The Downward Spiral
by Shenlong7
Summary: He fell down that downward spiral and it lead him to the Aktasuki. Can Hinata save Naruto. Lemons, coarse language,suicide, dark thoughts and violence. NaruHina, SasuSaku, but then GarrSaku, NeijTen, KakAnko. Now with new bonus chapters. back in process
1. Loss of Innocence

The Downward Spiral

Chapter One: Loss of Innocence

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters of Naruto. I am only borrowing them to tell a story and I'm using them because without them this story would lose its punch or meaning.

Author's note: This story is a dark Naruto fan fic with depressing situations and is like the Nine Inch Nails album the title is taken from. Rape, suicide, character deaths, and really dark thoughts lie ahead.

* * *

Sakura was looking at the same sight she had seen before, the sight of Uchiha Sasuke's back as he walked away from her life again. The first time was like her world crumbling before her as she begged him not to go and he all he did was tell her thanks and he left without a word. Now it was different because she was strong enough to stop it and she knew that somewhere deep down inside of him, he had some feelings for her. Today was the day she would give up the most sacred thing a woman had for the man she loved deep down in her heart. An apology was offered to Naruto in her mind as she realized that she had lead him to believe he had a chance with her if he brought back Sasuke. What was worse was that she had encouraged his beliefs by telling him that she would give up her virginity to him if e brought Sasuke back. It was a cruel thing to do, but at the time she didn't care and when she later gained a conscious she didn't have the courage to tell him the truth. The truth was that she had masturbated to Sasuke every night dreaming of this day, the day when he would make her a woman. That's why she had chased him to the damp dark cavern that had long since been devoid of any life forms, despite the water that dripped from the gray stalagmites that could nurture any life form. The lighting only came from the candles that were placed in the few dry spots, which made the room very dim, but she could make out his features.

"I thought that idiot would find me," said Sasuke, showing that he knew she was there despite her attempts to conceal herself. "Something tells me he's not as dumb as he was when we last met, but you've been stuck to an illusion."

"I know you have feelings for me," said Sakura taking a step forward. "You try hiding them, but I know they're still there despite your attempts to severe them. I'm stronger now Sasuke. I won't be as much of a burden as you thought and I can use my charm on Naruto to get Konoha off your back while you hunt for Itachi."

"No I meant that you think you have as much a hold on Naruto as you use to," replied Sasuke with his back still turned towards her. "The thoughts of you two as anything more than friends is slipping from his mind thanks to the Hyuuga heiress. You're lucky she hasn't caught on to the fact that you're using him or else you would need Tsunade-sama to put you back together again. You may be strong, but that little Hinata isn't so little anymore as shown by her defeating most of my squad alongside Naruto."

"I don't care about consequences anymore Sasuke," said Sakura determined not to lose him. "The only thing I want is for you…."

"For me to what?"

"Please Sasuke! Please take me!"

"How very naughty of you," replied Sasuke in a playful tone. He was having the time of his life when he watched her squirm like that. "But you seem far too clean for my taste. I need a woman who can do dirty talk because it shows she doesn't have any care of proper etiquette."

"Fuck me Sasuke! PLEASE! I want to feel you inside of me right now."

"Oh, I love to hear that. Go on talk some more! Sell it to me!"

"I've been sticking a dildo in my pussy for two years, fantasizing about the day when it would be your cock that got shoved in my pussy. Please Sasuke; I want to feel your cock in my body!"

"I'll grant your wish," said Sasuke as he turned around.

Sakura's eyes poured over his body, taking in its beauty as she felt her body temperature rising dramatically. She admired how he had a soft and frail looking body that was like porcelain in way. His pale skins made him look like an angel come down from heaven and she felt the urge to hold him in her arms so badly. That cockatoo hair of his made him look so cool and went well with his frail looking complexion. It made him looked distinguished just like his noble blood decreed bringing him into a stark contrast between Naruto, who looked more like a soldier with his spiky, wild blond hair and his rippling muscles. She sighed as his name came into her thoughts. Poor Naruto. She had used him and had gotten him into situations before that could have killed him all so she could shack up with Sasuke. In her heart, she knew that she had never forgiven him for not bringing back Sasuke, even though she knew that it was Sasuke's fault. _I'm a real bitch,_" thought Sakura. _Now it's time for this bitch to get her reward and then later she can get her just deserts._ Then she saw his eyes and terror shot through her body as she looked into his snake-like eyes.

"Sasuke…what's with your eyes," asked Sakura, her voice breaking up in terror.

"Sasuke forgot about me just as I had planned," replied Sasuke's body, but not in Sasuke's voice.

"Orochimaru?!"

"Well now, you said you wanted to feel Sasuke-kun's cock inside of you," said Oro-Sasuke as he pulled off his yukata. The world seemed to spin around her, but she knew it was a genjutsu and released it.

"You bastard," she shouted as she rushed towards him with her fist ready to catch him in the jaw.

"Are you going to hurt Sasuke as well," asked Oro-Sasuke who just stood there. She hesitated and was immediately thrown against a wall before being beaten severely by Oro-Sasuke. "Well now, we're just going to lay back and let it all happen. After all, you'll still get what you wanted, what you nearly got Naruto killed for, and the one thing that you have personally killed for."

"I did it because I love Sasuke," replied Sakura, who was ashamed of having her crimes called out like that.

"There's an old saying. Never bull shit a bull shitter. You just wanted him to fuck your brains out."

He pinned her to the wall, despite her screams and pleads for him not to. He ripped her clothes off and used his tongue to lick all over her as he defiled her. The kunai in his hands fulfilled his sick sadistic pleasures as it cut into her flesh causing her to scream out. All she could think of was how she had deserved this, but also how much she wished it was really Sasuke.

* * *

Naruto's eyes searched the valley for Sasuke, going in the direction Sakura had told him to go, but he still didn't trust her. She had always made it apparent that his life was secondary to Sasuke's life, but he had found a way to get past that. He had accepted that she had lied about giving him her virginity, but it still pissed him off that she acted like she was for real about her offer. A long time ago he stopped being pussy whipped by her, but he didn't know how that had happened. Maybe it was because he was getting laid by other women in the village as soon as he became legal and a sex god. Taking out half the Akatsuki single handedly did a lot to his reputation, but he knew it was only sex, never a relationship. The Kyuubi in his stomach was preventing that and ever since it became known, most girls were just looking to be sex partners and nothing more. The only person who was still very close to him was Hinata, but he figured she was just so kind that she over looked that always.

Hyuuga Hinata. Still a virgin at nineteen, which was strange with a boyfriend like Kiba, but Kiba still seemed to be pissed at Naruto for some reason that escaped him. But my god was she cute as her long blue hair blew in with the barren valley as a back drop. She was cute with short blue hair, but as soon as she grew her hair out she looked down right beautiful. Her face had a frail beauty that was deceitful for she could take on powerful enemies. Naruto had no doubt that she could take on Neiji or Sakura, but she didn't brag about it because she was just not that kind of woman. So beautiful, but she was with Kiba now and out of his reach.

"Can you see him," asked Naruto to his constant partner in missions, Hinata.

"No, there's no one," replied Hinata. The stuttering had all but stopped.

"Fuck, I knew she sent me on some wild fucking goose chase," cursed Naruto. "I swear to fucking god I'm going to beat the shit out of her one of these days!"

It was probably an empty threat since he was really kind, even to those who still called him a monster, but sometimes he could have these streaks of sadism and rage that were a terrifying sight to behold. No one had faced the knife's edge of that rage and lived to tell about it.

"No you shouldn't it would only make people see you more for what they think you are than what you really are," said Hinata with a voice that leaked worry.

"Thanks Hinata, you're the best friend I have right now," said Naruto as he calmed down. "Take a look at that sunset."

"It's beautiful," said Hinata as she looked out at the sun going slowly below the horizon and the vibrant colors that came out. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Pales in comparison to you though," replied Naruto and then he wondered why he had said that. They both blushed as soon as he had said that, Hinata for obvious reasons, and Naruto blushed because Hinata was Kiba's girl and he never made a move on another man's girl.

"Th-th-thanks Naruto-kun," said Hinata. For some reason that Naruto could not grasp, Hinata was always stuttering when he complimented her.

"Well let's get going before she decides to offer our lives up to Sasuke," laughed Naruto. He had no doubt in his mind that she would do that, but then again, so would anyone in love.

"Naruto you shouldn't say things like that," complained Hinata. Though she knew that what he said was probably true she could understand where it came from. She would do the same thing for Naruto even though he didn't know it, but everyone knew that her relationship with Kiba was mostly one sided.

"Yeah maybe I shouldn't," said Naruto. He looked back at the setting sun and then he smelled something. It smelled like blood, Sakura's blood.

* * *

"Sasuke," she said weakly as she saw Oro-Sasuke dressing, his back turned to her. She felt so bad and not just because of the pain. She felt bad that she had treated Naruto so cruelly only to gain something that was worthless.

"He's saying sorry right now, but I'm sure he enjoyed the show," said Oro-Sasuke as he exited the cave.

* * *

"Well, it seems like things are ripe for my idea," said the newest member of the Akatsuki to the leader.

"Yes things do look like they're headed to shit creek," replied the leader. "Do you really believe that we'll be able to offer Naruto something that will be enough to convince him to become one of us."

"We'll be offering him something that will mean the most to him, a place where he will be judged for whom he is and not what."

"It does seem logical and has a high probability of working," said Itachi in his own emotionless manner. "With him and Gaara working together, we can kiss those two demons good-bye, but who knew that the Shukaku was that powerful and that the jonin was more than just an average suna jonin."

"He is one of the Seven Sword masters," reminded Kisame, who was one of the same group. "I can't wait till we fight him."

"Naruto and Kakashi were a threat before, but now we have two new threats and both villages are becoming more of a problem," declared the Akatsuki leader.

"How did Kakashi get the mangekyou if it requires the death of a friend," asked Tobi, one of the new, more useless members of the Akatsuki.

"I don't know," replied Itachi. "I don't know how Orochimaru got control of my brother either."

"Why do we have to worry about that," asked the leader. "Just kill him and be done with it or let Naruto do that himself."

Author's note: For all my diehard fans, I'm thinking of putting Shenlong in this fan fic. If you don't want him just say so.


	2. The Beginning of the Decent

Chapter 2: The beginning of the Decent

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters of Naruto.

Author's notes: I've changed some things like Gaara losing to Deidara. In this fan fic, Gaara killed Deidara, with the help of Shenlong, who may be something of a fan favorite, killed Sasori. Asuma is still dead as are his murderers, but after they met that one time, Sasuke has never seen Naruto or Hinata ever.

* * *

The headache was back when Tsunade woke up from her desk with a piece of paper still stuck to her face. Konoha was still there and still peaceful, something it had remained after the invasion from sound. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she looked out to see young genin training to someday be the best, to be Hokage. They all shared that dream, the dream Naruto had, but for different reasons then Naruto. Naruto sought out the dream not to protect the village like the Hokage before him, but because it would get the villagers to acknowledge him as what he truly was. No one should have to be exposed to such cruelty all their life, but then again, fate was a bitch. The autumn breeze was very cool that day and ominous clouds darkened the sky over Konoha. Tsunade could just feel the headache coming and it wasn't because she would have to go to a meeting with the Kazekage, which meant another shit load of paperwork for her. Her fears were answered when Shziune came bursting into the room with a few ANBU guards with her.

"Tsunade-sama, Sakura's in the infirmary," shouted Shizune.

"Calm down Tsunade and tell me what happened in a quiet manner," replied Tsunade, who seemed devoid of emotion despite the emotional shock that was bouncing around in her head.

"During the mission to find Sasuke, Sakura made contact with Sasuke, but it seems that he's been taken over by Orochimaru," said Shizune regaining her composure. "She appears to have been raped."

"Tell the Kazekage that I'm sorry that I couldn't meet him, but I was called away do to emergencies," said Tsunade in the same emotionless voice.  
"He's already there in the infirmary checking up on Sakura," replied Shizune looking down at her feet. "He said that he'd like to look over a friend."

"Well then, who brought her in," asked Tsunade.

"Hinata brought her in, but Naruto is still out...hunting Sasuke."

"What?!"

* * *

It was amazing how things could change from barren rock to grassy plains in such a short distance, but it almost seems like an immediate change. Sasuke guessed that it was because of how much of a contrast the two were to each other. One was the emptiness of death, while one captured the whole of death. Somewhere in the middle was a very thin line that was very short, the place in between life and death. This was where he was right now; stuck between his revenge that had brought him so close to death and his friends who would help him live his life. That option was closed now since he couldn't control the vile serpent inside of him and now it had claimed Sakura, scarring her for the rest of her life. He could only ponder if he was any better than the serpent that had raped Sakura. He was the one who betrayed his village to learn from Orochimaru just so he could get some hollow existence that he thought was what he wanted, but now it seemed so inferior to everything that he used to have. It was his fault that he was now under the control of Orochimaru, but he still could lead himself to anyplace he wanted. No matter how hard he worked he felt like he couldn't get away from those who he would hurt. As if by some cruel joke of fate, Naruto was standing on the road glaring at Sasuke. He felt himself lose control and he knew he wasn't in control anymore.

"Can Orochimaru come out to play," asked Naruto in a voice that was pure anger.

"Well you are a bold one," laughed Orochimaru. He wanted to say more, but he felt himself being pulled out of the body as Naruto pushed his glowing right hand into Sasuke's stomach, separating Orochimaru from his body.

"Did you enjoy that," asked Naruto mockingly.

"Sasuke, you're losing your strength," said the snake like form of Orochimaru, knowing what buttons to push to get Sasuke to do what he wanted. "You'll never kill Itachi without me and you know it. Will you let your purpose die out?"

The avenger was still a major part of Sasuke and Sasuke's will was to weak to stop it.

"I won't let you take it from me," shouted Sasuke as he rushed to kill Naruto. "You don't know how lucky you are to even be thought of as my team mate with that beast inside of you! You're nothing but some prison for a monster that is slowly taking over your mind!"

"Look who's talking," shot back Naruto. He knew his punch had disoriented Sasuke and that he shouldn't do too much damage. He knew all of this, but he didn't care about that because he could have killed Sasuke right then and not cared.

He fast stepped Sasuke and caught him off guard by how much faster he was. All the training with the Kyuubi inside of him had paid off as he moved faster than Sasuke could keep up. Naruto felt a rage that had been built up after years of being alone, after years of taking shit from the villagers when he was the one who was always saving them. Sasuke's words had set off the fire inside of him that was now burning the confused Uchiha. Sasuke was up against the walls, the one place he couldn't work at because every time he was there, he had this overwhelming fear that he would die without killing Itachi. Even though it was the avenger that had led him to all the bad things in his life, it was the side that kept him alive. He was weak mentally having never recovered from the death of his parents by the hand of his older brother. The trauma had caused his personality to split in half, one side the avenger and the other the little child who was still stuck in that room that held his parents corpses. The avenger who refused to die was taking every punch, but was slowly being beaten to death.

Naruto used the headhunter jutsu to pull Sasuke under the ground and keep him down while he took care of Orochimaru's serpent form. He poured chakra into his hands as he grabbed Orochimaru, burning the serpent in his hand slowly.

"Well it looks like I backed the wrong pony," laughed Orochimaru. Ever since he was nearly killed by Sasuke's avenger persona he had lost his fear of death. "You're more than what i thought you were, I guess you are as talented as the your father. To bad the knowledge that he's your father doesn't help how the villagers treat you. As soon as you take Sasuke in they'll make you to b an out of control monster that nearly killed the last member of the Uchiha clan. Mark my words, they love you only because of your father and they will pounce at the moment when they are better than you."

Naruto didn't know what to say because he knew it was all true, but he had been denying it. Grudgingly, he picked up the unconcious Sasuke and carried him back to the village. He took the scenic route because he needed something to cheer him up.

* * *

The village was just as he thought, everyone glaring at him and the beat up Sasuke who was hanging on his shoulder. No matter what he did it was never enough, for the only thing they saw was the Kyuubi, even if he was the Yondaime's son, it still couldn't change what they felt about him. All their words of "shouldn't you try controlling your power," were getting on his last nerve. He was ready to snap at the next villager who gave him any shit. After dropping Sasuke off at the infirmary, Naruto went to check up on Sakura. She was still in critical condition, but Naruto didn't know how to feel about her anymore. He acts of kindness were now in question by how she acted when Sasuke was in the mix. Loving someone was one thing, but he knew that Sakura would care more about the wounds Sasuke recieved than about the fact that Naruto brought him back.

Walking down the village he sensed the gang of villagers that were following him, knowing what purpose they had in mind. The reason they were carrying weapons was to kill him or beat him, just like when he was a child, but this time things would be different. He planned to give them a taste of their own medicine as soon as he walked down the dark alley.

* * *

Hinata was on a date with Kiba, but she still could only think of how Naruto looked when he brought Sasuke in. Never had she seen Naruto look so depressed, it was as if he lost a part of him, but she knew that it was because they had similar pains. They had grown up in the same home; Naruto just went out the front door, while Sasuke decided to stay in the home. Hinata didn't know what to do about Naruto. They were getting closer, but she knew that she couldn't get with him unless she was prepared to hurt Kiba. She couldn't see that Kiba knew that he wasn't capturing her attention or her heart. He was just some brother to her and somewhere along the way, that's where Kiba wound up in by choice. He just needed to get her confidence up so he could get his confidence up to tell Ino how he felt. He didn't know when he had started noticing Ino. Maybe it was when she and Shino starting dating, but he knew that he wanted to fuck her. He chalked it up to loneliness, but he couldn't see the other reason why he was going after Ino. It was because he loved another, but that person was out of his reach.

"Still thinking about him," asked Kiba a he took a sip of wine.

"How long have you known," asked Hinata staring down into her glass.

"I've always known that you only wanted someone to help with the loneliness," replied Kiba. "You know I've stopped thinking of you like that before we even became a couple. I know the only reason you don't tell Naruto how you feel is because of us. Don't worry Hinata, there is no us anymore."

"Thank you Kiba-kun," said Hinata, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.

* * *

Naruto stumbled into his room, disoriented from the heavy smell of blood that was all over him. It was like a small drug that could set him off if he just let his rage out. It felt good unleashing his rage, like letting himself be free for the first time in his life. But he knew that it was wrong because he couldn't stop the rage like he wished he could. He killed them, the gang of villagers, but he couldn't feel sorry for them because they had it coming. Growling from his stomach snapped him back from his moral dilemma of acting like he had or just bottling it up like he always did. He pulled out the ramen that was in his cupboard and he cooked t up. Normally he could have just gone to Ichiruka Ramen, but he didn't feel like it. It would be to lonely going there by himself now. No one was around because they all had some one they were dating. Shino had Ino, Shikamaru had Temari, Neiji had Tenten, Kakashi had Anko, Gaara was to busy talking to Tsunade, Rock Lee and Maito Gai were off on a mission, Iruka and Shizune were hitting it off, and the rest of his friends were all on missions or in the hospital. There he was, in his apartment, back in his lonely childhood. Everything and everybody around treated him like he didn't exist.

There was a knock at the door and Naruto answered it. To his surprise, there stood in his doorway, Uchiha Itachi.

"Hello Uzumaki-san," said Itachi bowing respectfully.

"Are you here to try your luck," asked Naruto, who was pulling out his kunai from his back pocket.

"No, instead I want to make you an offer," replied Itachi. He still had all the personality traits of a snow cone.

"What could you give me that I would want," asked Naruto with a chuckle. "You've only hurt my friends so why would I want anything to do with you and your group?"

"Where are your friends now," asked Itachi knowing he had gotten somewhere when Naruto looked down. "We can offer you a place where you belong. Think it over, I'll be waiting."


	3. Sexual Revenge

Chapter 3: Sexual Revenge

Disclaimer: If you read these things than please send a review saying you do because I don't feel like doing another.

Author's note: Thank You to Sumikoa and wolfdiablo. They both reviewed this story and I know there are others.

* * *

Gaara watched the pink haired girl as she slept silently in her bed and he began to trace her hair with his fingers. It was soft, unlike his hair which was as rough and coarse as the sand which circled his body. Emotions were something that he was unfamiliar with, having kept inside of himself for so long, but he had found that he was attracted to some girls, one of them just happened to be Sakura. He couldn't describe it because he saw a lot of flaws in her, but the kindness she showed to him whenever they met despite the rocky start they had. Hell a rocky start was even a good name for it. He had slammed her into a tree with his sand and forced one of her friends to fight him. He didn't see the other side of Sakura, the one that used Naruto and others just so she could be with Sasuke. Temari had gone off to have her date with Shikamaru and Kankuro had gone to chat with the ladies of Konoha, which would lead to the inevitable rejection. Gaara was the only one there in the hospital room because he didn't feel like being alone. His fan girls were at home, even though there were other fan girls in Konoha that he didn't know of, and everyone else was gone. Often times, Gaara would have one of the fan girls to keep him company since recently he had grown to hate being alone at night.

Sakura opened her eyes and looked at Gaara questioningly.

"Why am I here," asked Sakura, who was having trouble with her memories.

"You were brought here by Hinata," replied Gaara. "It seems you found Sasuke, but he was under the control of Orochimaru. I'm sorry to tell you this, but he…"

"Sasuke," shouted Sakura. "Where is Sasuke?"

"He's in the critical condition room," replied Gaara, slightly annoyed at the fact that he had been interrupted. "After you were raped by Sasuke, Naruto chased after him and forcibly removed Orochimaru from Sasuke."

He turned around to see cherry blossoms swirling around and he felt like punching something. She had left, most likely to find Naruto for putting Sasuke in critical condition.

* * *

Sasuke was reliving it, the day when his entire clan was murdered, but for some reason it was from Itachi's perspective. Sasuke assumed it was a side effect of the Mangekyou because he had experienced these dreams before. They were always like watching a movie, only being allowed to see and not to do anything to stop what was happening. Each member of the Uchiha clan seemed to be taken by surprise when they were killed. He rushed down the compound killing the two guards just as they were about to pass each other and then crept into one of the rooms. A little girl was still awake and seemed to be confused as what to make of the man with the sword. Then again, no one could believe that there was someone who would be able to get so far in the Uchiha compound. She held out her glass of milk in a friendly offering with a smile. It was quick and merciful; she never had time to even realize that the sword was coming towards her. It was her peaceful face that tormented Sasuke each night when he laid his head down on the pillow. He then killed the father who had woken up from the sound of the glass shattering on the floor. The mother was still sleeping when she died.

"Stop it," shouted Sasuke in his dream, but no one could hear it except for the person who was laughing.

Then there was his mother who was looking out the window when he entered the room. Something was wrong because the man with the sword was shorter than his mother, but Itachi was taller than his father. The attacker was shorter, a lot shorter than his victims, except for the girl. His mother got it right through the chest and he could feel the tears the attacker was shedding. The doors slid open and in walked Sasuke's father looking shocked at what he saw. Sasuke was shouting for his father to run from Itachi, to hide, but his father didn't hear him. He just stood there watching his attacker as he slid the blade out, causing it to make a wet sound, like something slipping through wet cracks. The walls that were once a plain white were now splattered with blood, his mother's blood. His mother's body slumped to the floor and his father rushed to check on her. His face was still a mask of shock and his eyes were tearing at the death of his beloved wife at the hands of his son. Sasuke's father kissed his wife for the last time and knelt before his murderer, having lost the will for survival. The sword gleamed in the moonlight that poured through the window, spilling on everything. The murderer raised it and brought it down on Sasuke's father, splattering more blood over everything, even the murderer.

"Why….Sasuke," asked his father.

Someone walked into the room and the attacker spun around to attack him, but the person's hands were on his arm stopping him from moving. The attacker looked into the eyes of Itachi Uchiha.

"Why did you do this little brother," asked Itachi.

"I didn't do this…you did," said Sasuke in disbelief. "This is a trick, it must be."

"We did," said a voice from behind Sasuke. He turned to see a smaller blood splattered Sasuke with a sword in his hand. "We did it to help our big brother, the only one who noticed us, save for mom. She wasn't supposed to be there, she was supposed to be out and I was going to plant the sword in father's bed, but she had to be there."

"No, this is…that's not possible," said Sasuke. "I saw him! I saw Itachi kill mother and father!"

"You saw him standing on top of their bodies with the sword in his hand," replied little Sasuke with little emotion. "That's what he wanted you to think and he wanted you to believe that he was the one who killed them. He used the mangekyou to do just that, he used it to erase your memories of that night and replaced it with new ones."

"Then what has my life been for?"

"Nothing, but then again you were the one who killed them all to protect your brother. You must help him come back."

* * *

Naruto was thinking back to the moment when he killed those villagers and he started feeling bad about that, but then again they had it coming. But leaving the village would be worse. It would be doing the same thing that Sasuke did, except there was no one waiting for him, no one who thought of him as more than a friend. Why should he stay if he was having rotten luck and had just murdered villagers? Sure it was sin self defense, but he knew that they wouldn't see it that way because of how judgmental they were about him. Now all he had with him were his clothes and everything he treasured, a picture of him with his friends and his best friend, Hinata. Ever since the chunin exams, she had been a good source of strength and one day the two had promised to fight for each other. He could remember that it was during the season the cherry blossoms bloomed as they were under a cherry blossom tree. He remembered taking her hand in his and asking her if she would make a pledge with him to fight for the other. He was glad that she had agreed to it, but that was the same day she had revealed to him that she was with Kiba.

"Naruto, stop right there," said a voice from behind him. It was Sakura, who had healed rather quickly do to the combined efforts of Hinata and Tsunade.

"What the hell do you want," asked Naruto fed up with her shit. "Do you want to try and deceive me again like you always do? You act like my friend, but you're of my tormentor than anything?"

"Why did you have to do that to Sasuke," asked Sakura with anger in her voice. "You didn't have to hurt him like that."

"Even after I removed Orochimaru from him, he was so blind and weak that his other side took over and came after me," replied Naruto with as much anger, but his was steadily growing. "I didn't want to hurt him that much, but he wouldn't stay down because he was afraid he'd never kill Itachi. Sometimes I wonder whose worse, you or Itachi. He was straight forward with everything, but you stab people in the back like the little bitch you are!"

"I'm not going to let you go," said Sakura softly trying to use a bit of sadness to get Naruto to stay in Konoha. There was no mistaken what he was doing, the duffel bag gave him away.

"You think I'm going to be fooled by fake tears," shouted Naruto in anger. He took a step towards her and she took a step back in fear, she had never seen him this angry. "What did you want me to do? Did you really come here to stop me or did you want to kill me for what happened to Sasuke?"

Sakura ran out of room about the same time Naruto lost his patience for her and smacked her hard on the face, knocking her to the ground. Before she could get up, there were his hands picking her up by the throat and ripping her clothes off.

"I think you want me to do this," said Naruto, the anger had all the effect of a Black Mamba's venom. "You enjoyed it so much with Orochimaru that you want try it with me."

"No, Naruto, please stop," begged Sakura as she tried to kick him. He used a chakra dissection blade to sever the nerves in her leg. "Naruto, you cut my legs, can't we call it even?"

"No bitch, not by a long shot," spat Naruto his eyes were full of anger, the anger that had slowly been building up inside of him. "You told me you'd give up your virginity to me if brought Sasuke bacl. Even though it won't be your virginity, I think I'll still enjoy it."

"No please, Naruto don't!"

Somewhere along the lines, Sakura had thought this day would come, and she had always tried to stop it from coming, but now she was powerless. She felt him tear inside of her, finally getting his revenge, the revenge he deserved fully, but instead of the brutal rape that she had experienced before, it was rough and gentle at the same time. She looked into Naruto's eyes and she saw that they were different, one was those regular blue eyes and the other was the eye of the Kyuubi. After how much of a bitch she was, he was still holding back and it made Sakura hate herself.

"So can I take this as a yes," asked Itachi as he saw Naruto standing there.

"Yeah," replied Nauto as he looked back at the village for what felt like the last time, and he hoped it was the last time.

"Then shall we go before your presence is missed," said Itachi.

"Sorry my friends," whispered Naruto. "This is where our paths diverge, most likely forever. I'm sorry Hinata."

And just like that, puff, they were gone like a candle in the wind.


	4. Finding Out

Chapter four: Finding out

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters. Probably for the best though.

Author's note: Most of the characters would be a pain to write for when some don't go with the story so I have oc's for that purpose. Plus my oc's are just different sides of me. Shenlong comes soon. Thank you Sumikoa, Kuinochi Neko, bigbadwolf, wolfdiablo, and all the tohers who reviewed.

* * *

There she was lying on the ground with dirt caking her pink hair and her clothes ripped to shreds. It wasn't a good sight for Gaara because he could also see that it was less than what she looked like when she was brought back after being raped by Sasuke. Naruto was probably holding back because she was still a friend, no matter how many times she had placed his life in danger. Letting that anger out was most likely more Kyuubi, but he knew that Naruto had only felt sorry that he hurt her. No one would doubt that Naruto didn't regret what happened, but he was still sorry. Getting closer to her he could see that she was conscious enough to cry, but when it appeared that she had gotten back control of her body, she started hitting herself as if she were angered that she didn't fight back. Emotions were a strange thing, a very curious thing that Gaara never got, but he knew that they were necessary. He knelt down beside her with his hand held out, but instead she just cried as she tried to cover herself up. 

"Sakura, did Naruto do this," asked Gaara in a calm voice that was meant to be gentle, but because Gaara was as gentle as a man with sharp blades for fingers, his voice came out emotionless.

"It's my entire fault," cried Sakura, tears flowing down her cheek for the lost friend. "If I wasn't such an obsessive compulsive bitch, he wouldn't have left! I made him feel guilty that he didn't bring back Sasuke and I've used that to manipulate him to do everything I wanted. Like a whore, I told him that he could have me if he brought back Sasuke."

"Sakura calm down," said Gaara, trying to improve his voice. The Third time was a charm. "Sakura stop talking like that and try to get better so you can bring him back."

"Why do you care about someone as horrible as me," asked Sakura, looking at him trying to find the reason why he is still there. "I'm just a bitch who got what was coming to her."

"If I got what was coming to me then I would be a pile of ash," replied Gaara. "I killed people with a smile on my face, enjoying the sound of their screams. As far as being a bad person I just left you in the dust, now can you move?"

"No, Naruto…he severed the nerves in my legs," replied Sakura still feeling like the world's biggest whore. "Why did I have to do all of those things for someone who raped me in the end? But it wasn't Sasuke and he apologized and I hated that Naruto might think that Sasuke was the one who did that, but it wasn't him."

"Oh he knew," said Gaara. "That's why he chased after Sasuke, to save him from Orochimaru. They were still friends and he couldn't let one of his friends be controlled by that evil bastard. It's because of Naruto that Sasuke is free to think for himself, though I'm still wondering if that's a good thing."

"He did all that and I was mad at him because Sasuke came back bruised," said Sakura in a very low tone that was almost a whisper. "What kind of person am I? Why are you still here anyway? I'd only make your life miserable."

"After my childhood, you'll find not much can make me miserable," replied Gaara taking a step forward as the sand swirled around them. "To answer your second question because I can't answer your first, I'm still here because as far as I'm concerned you're still a friend."

"Thank you," said Sakura looking into his cold eyes that had a sense of hurt in them with her own teary eyes and they were both teleported to the infirmary, to Sakura's bed.

* * *

Kakashi looked up at the stars, but he wasn't really concerned about them since they weren't his real problem. Fate was his problem and fate had nothing to do with the stars, they were tied on the same wheel as he for even stars die. Sakura, one of his students had been raped by another student, Sasuke, and the third student beat Sasuke up. Naruto, the son of the Yondaime, Kakashi's teacher. That boy was unpredictable, but he was still remarkable in how he was able to bring out the best in people, even heartless ninja or the psycho's. He was so like his father, a thing only worsened by him getting older. Sometimes Kakashi would call him Arashi accidently. The woman in the room, Anko, asked him what was troubling him, but he just responded with the usual vague answer that told her nothing. It was rare for Kakashi to actually answer questions that would give insight into his thought process. Sure they had sex and had a fun time, but Kakashi couldn't get close. The one's he got close to always died and he was left feeling lonely, but he bottled it all up. He was a ninja after all and ninja couldn't show emotion or anything like that. 

"Damn it Kakashi, can't you tell me anything that bothers you," asked Anko slamming her fist into the table in anger. "We're together finally and you won't let me help you. How do you think that makes me feel Kakashi? After all the times you helped me out, I can't return the favor. That's not fair Kakashi, I want to get in, to know that I'm more than just the girl of the week."

In truth she was more than just the girl of the week, but Kakashi felt getting closer to her would curse her like it had all the others. He was on the road he didn't want to be on, the road where he would have to decide between shedding his protective shell or lose the woman who he felt something for. He knew he didn't want to leave her or for her to leave him, but the possibility of going through another loss like Rin was hard. Now was the time to make a decision because she was heading for the door and would be out of his life forever.

"Anko, please wait," he begged.

"Will you let me in now or did you stop me for nothing," asked Anko turning around to see Kakashi take his mask off. He had never taken it off in front of her; he just blind folded her when they kissed.

There was no woman in Konoha that had entertained the possibility of him being ugly, but Anko had never expected him to be that handsome. He looked like a god or demigod from some ancient mythology. She walked away from the door and towards him. She got on her tip toes to kiss him, since he was taller than her, and he returned the kiss with just as much passion. Putting one foot behind his leg, she leaned forward to send them both tumbling on the floor with her on top. She pinned him down so he couldn't move and forced him to answer her question before they got into sex.

"Now what's been eating you," asked Anko who was straddling him with her waist.

"My students," replied Kakashi, who looked depressed. "I couldn't stop Sasuke, I couldn't help Sakura, and now I've put such a great burden on Naruto. I haven't been the greatest teacher or leader."

"Kakashi, no one asks that things come out perfect," said Anko sighing at how much Kakashi could degrade himself. "Look, you got the job done, and that's all that matters. You had problem children and you turned them into shinobi able to take on the chunin exams."

"Those damn exams were the start of all my problems," said Kakashi. "I look back at it and wonder what would have happened had I not put them in the chunin exams."

"It all started during the second part, my part," retorted Anko. "If I had a more watchful eye then maybe it wouldn't have happened."

'Anko, don't blame yourself, please," said Kakashi.

"But it was my old sensei who did all of that and I left this village with him," replied Anko staring out into the cold night. Kakashi saw the look in her eye and was glad that she had taken her panties off before.

"We need something to get us off this conversation," laughed Kakashi. He brought his face under her skirt to taste her, enjoying the moans he received from his lover.

* * *

"Can someone go get Kakashi and Anko," asked Tsunade with her head in her hands. Nothing was right anymore, from the moment Sakura was brought in to now. She looked at the chunin who were there, which were all of Naruto's friends except for Sakura, Sasuke, and Rock Lee, no one had seen Rock Lee for some time. "I suppose you all want to know why you're here." 

"Why….why is Naruto not here," asked Hinata, the only one not noticing the lack of the loud blond.

"He must be in the infirmary next to Sakura and Sasuke," commented Shikamaru, whose girlfriend, Temari, was right beside him.

"No," said a voice from behind the shadows. It was Gaara. "The reason you are all here is because of Naruto."

"What's the matter with Naruto-kun," asked Hinata worried for the man she loved.

"He's left Konoha," replied Gaara. "After a few rough hours in Konoha he left to go somewhere we don't know."

"Aren't you going to send in a team or something," asked Ino while clinging to her boyfriends arms.

"We are the team," said Shino in his to the point manner.

"Correct, we must get him back before the Akatsuki do," declared Tsunade. "You are all dismissed."

* * *

All those who read this, please review! 


	5. A Line Crossed

Chapter 5: A Line Crossed

Author's note: My most profound thanks to all of those who reviewed and I have to say that I decided that i could use myself, Shenlong in this story. His personality will fit well. Also, do to the nature of the Akatsuki, I have oc Akatsuki in this story.

* * *

Sasuke could since him somewhere close by the village, he could tell Itachi wasn't that far away, but for what reason he was there he didn't know. Then something entered his head, a name, _Naruto_, Itachi had come for Naruto. His body was repairing itself thanks to the healing abilities he had obtained from Orochimaru. He was only clad in his boxers and he didn't feel like running through town in his underwear. The scent of cigarettes filled the air outside and he heard the doorknob turning. The door opened to reveal Shikamaru smoking wrapped around Temari's arm, which wasn't surprising since Temari was hell's of a lot tougher than Shikamaru. Sasuke had always figured Shikamaru to be the type of person to be dominated by a woman.

"Thought you might want these," said Shikamaru handing him a set of clothes. It was his old set of clothes or at least in the style of his old blue shirt and white shorts.

"Thanks, but who did the tailoring," asked Sasuke.

"Kakashi guessed how much you'd grow and gave the measurements to a tailor," replied Shikamaru.

"I thought you were Asuma with all that smoke," luaghed Sasuke. "Where is Asuma anyway?"

"He's dead unfortunately," replied Shikamaru as he looked down at the floor to hide the sadness.

"I'm sorry."

"You couldn't have known. Now we're going to find Naruto."

"What do you mean look for Naruto," asked Sasuke, worry creping into his mind.

"Naruto's leaving Konoha. Why, do you know something?"

"Itachi's near here! He might have Nauto with him!"

* * *

The Forest of Death didn't seem so frightening as it had once been when Naruto was a genin trying to pass the test. Now he was stronger and able to take on anything the forest might throw at him because the worst things had come from within. His worst enemy was the darkness inside; the darkness that ate at him when he was all alone in the room after the lights had died down. It was strange how things had changed so much from what he would have thought. Never in all of his childhood years would he have guessed that he would be going over to the Akatsuki, whose dream it was to take the different demons from those who were born with it. The many trees and branches were everywhere, a perfect place for people to run into when they were running from the ninja of Konoha. The moon glowed on everything making it look like some place different, a place for dark people to do things dark. Naruto was given an Akatsuki cloak to show anyone who came where he belonged now or so Itachi had said, but he knew it was for him to be forever branded so he would never have anywhere to go again. The Kyuubi was sleeping inside of him after having it's revenge, since all of the shit Naruto had to sort through, the Kyuubi had to sort through to. After getting past their differences, the two had made an effective team, but Naruto had to always hold the Kyuubi back whenever Sakura started trying to fool him with her bullshit.

"Well you did it, Itachi," said a voice from above. It was a tall man with long, dark blue hair and wore his cloak with a cord to tie the cloak together and used the cord for a sling to rest his right arm. (Think of Auron from FF X) "And here my Tobi was saying that you wouldn't do it."

"No I didn't," said another man with a weird mask on his face. "He was the one who said that stuff and bet me that you weren't going to come back with Naruto."

"I don't really care about any of that, Sanjuro," replied Itachi just as emotionless as he was. "Naruto-san is here and that is all we have to worry about."

"No you were followed," said the one Itachi called Sanjuro. "He's right behind you."

Naruto turned to see the clashing colors of a chunin vest and the green of spandex. There was Rock Lee staring at him with eyes of determination and hate bursting out of them. Something was driving Rock lee, some business left unfinished or some thing that caused him to be here of all places.

"What are you doing here, bushy brow," asked Naruto.

"You hurt Sakura, Naruto," said Rock Lee, his fists shaking the hands. "I can not forgive you for what you did and I know how you hurt her. I heard Gaara asking Sakura if she'd been raped and now I see you walking away from Konoha in the company of S-class criminals."

"Bushy Brow, go home before you break every bone in your body," said Naruto, slowly and dangerously. "I am not in the mood to play your little game."

"I didn't come here to play any games," replied Rock Lee. "I came here to avenge Sakura and drag you back to Konoha, kicking and screaming if I have to."

Naruto ran up to Rock lee so fast that Rock Lee didn't have time to respond; he just stood there looking just as he did before Naruto moved. The Kyuubi could do many things, but this was something Naruto himself specialized in, hell it was in his blood. He was the son of the Yondaime, the Yellow Flash. Naruto brought his fist up to Rock Lee's stomach, knocking him back into a tree trunk that he broke through. Lee was still dazed as he fell down all the way to the ground, making a small crater with his impact, but still he got back up and rushed at Naruto, who simply side stepped him and punched him in the gut. Naruto didn't want to hurt Lee, but he was given no choice. He was going to the Akatsuki and not a goddamn thing was going to stand in his way.

"Rock Lee, go back and ask Sakura why I did what I did," said Naruto with no emotion. "I'm sure you'll find an explanation there."

"Sorry, but we can't let him go if he knows how we go in and out of the village," said Tobi. "Sanjuro hates finding other places to sneak in."

Naruto was about to respond when Rock Lee leapt at him, kunai in hand, but he was stopped by Naruto's fist. Naruto didn't know what happened, but survivalist instincts kicked in and he pulled out his kunai and stabbed Rock Lee. From there things just went down hill because Rock Lee was screaming and Naruto tried to knock him out or put him under a genjutsu, but the pain was preventing him from doing anything. That's when Sanjuro stepped in and used his sword to finish the job, robbing his eyes of their life. Naruto just stared at the kunai in his hands, all covered with blood, Lee's blood. If there was a lin, then Naruto had just crossed. Sure, he hadn't killed Rock Lee, but he felt like he had done everything that led to Rock Lee's death.

"Well I guess there is no turning back," said Naruto.

"Yeah, but we all go through this," said Sanjuro. "Everyone except Itachi has done the same thing."

"But Itachi killed his whole family," exclaimed Naruto. "Surely that's on a grander scale than this!"

"Who said it was him," replied Sanjuro, who disappeared in a swirl of blood.


	6. A Hard Truth

Chapter six: A Dark Truth.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. Please people review, I'm posting these things in rapid succession might I add. To Sumikoa, Kuinochi Neko, GhostOfZeon (they always seemed to get new leaders who got killed off in the same week.) moonlight-village-Anbu, bigbadwolfie604, and wolf Diablo, thanks for thereviews.

* * *

"So what is it," asked Anko seeing how Kakashi slumped down to the floor with that look on his face. The same look he had on earlier when he was blaming himself for everything that had happened to his team, Sasuke's betrayal and hospitalization, Sakura's rape, and Naruto having to bring back Sasuke in the condition.

"Naruto's gone missing and Itachi is in the area," replied Kakashi. "A team went out, but they haven't found him. Sasuke was requesting my presence to help him try and find him by finding Itachi."

"I'm certain that you can bring Naruto back," said Anko trying to comfort Kakashi while being glad that she could help him in some way. He had helped her by filling the void in her life, the void that had been left by Orochimaru's betrayal. She could remember how he had broken her defenses that day, on that mission.

**Flash Back **

She was munching on some danjo while he read one of his favorite books, those porn books that always made Anko wonder if he was a hentai or not. Whenever she saw him in the bar he was drinking his beer while reading those books, and when she saw him in the meeting room during debriefings there he was, still reading that damn book. The forest they were hiding in was caught in autumn, when the leaves changed colors and fell, creating the most beautiful sight for all who would take the time to look at them. The leaves of the forest, however, were all the same color, red, as if someone had painted the trees red with blood. It only reminded Anko of her blood soaked past, when she was Orochimaru's student and valuable helper. She decided that she hated the forest for reminding her of her past, the curse seal on her neck did that enough. The cool autumn breeze made her forget what she was remembering, instead it blew her coat back a bit, giving a soft caress to the skin that wasn't covered, but that wasn't a good thing. If the skin on her chest could feel it then that meant that her coat was being blown open, exposing herself to the eyes of a certain blatant pervert. She turned to look at Kakashi, who had surprisingly pulled his headband over his other eye in an act of chivalry.

"Tell me when you're decent," said Kakashi with a sigh. "You know there might be some benefits to wearing a bra that you haven't thought of."

She threw a kunai in response to the comment, but Kakashi caught it effortlessly as soon as he smelled the scent of her kunai. She had killed a lot with that kunai that it had the scent of blood on it.

"Is that anyway to thank a teammate for letting you retain some dignity," asked Kakashi mockingly.

"You were just too shy you porn freak," replied Anko in annoyance.

"Oh really, well at least my addiction doesn't cause me to gain ten pounds," commented Kakashi.

"What the hell are you implying," asked Anko, a bit pissed.

"I'm just saying your ass is looking pretty big," said Kakashi in a matter-of-fact tone. He dodged each of Anko's punches until he got tired and just grabbed her, pulling her close to him.

It felt strange being that close to him, but at the same time she felt safe for some odd reason that she couldn't explain. Why did it have to be him? Sure he was mysterious and all, but he was also sort of a pervert for reading those trashy Icha Icha novels.

"Please Anko, be careful this is a small branch," warned Kakashi, it was a sincere act of kindness and a showing of affection.

"Why do you care if I live or die, I'm a fucking traitor!"

He placed his hand over her eyes and touched her lips with his own, silencing her from what she was about to say. Normally she would have removed the hand and bite his lip off, but this seemed to be different than everything else. He had actually showed that she was more than just some sex object, something more than just a femal ninja. For years she had tried to act tomboyish to try and get recognized as something other than a kuinochi, who were seen more as seductresses than tough ninja. But sometimes she just found a wanting to be feminine sometimes, to have her identity. For so long she wanted someone to see past all of what she had put up and see the woman inside of her that was interested in tea ceremonies and other things. His lips left hers and so did his hand, but he had put his mask on.

"Have you calmed down enough," asked Kakashi smiling at her. "I didn't mean to do that, but you forced me to. Anko, you are a comrade in arms, traitor or not and comrades are precious to me."

**Flash Back Ends **

* * *

Maito Gai, the Green Beast of Konoha, was weeping over the cold lifeless body of his favorite student, who had been like a son to him. He remembered training him and seeing how he strived to improve with determination and hard work to achieve his dream of becoming a ninja. Tears fell down his cheek like rain drops in a hurricane, one that would never be seen in the leaf again, a flame of youth that had been burnt out. There were many feelings that swirling in his mind, some anger, some joy at the fact that Lee went out with his boots on like a true shinobi, but still he felt the pain of loss. Maito Gai had always felt sad at the news of a shinobi's death, but his personality had put many people at a distance. The truth was that Gai was afraid of growing old so he prized the youth for their energy and for the fact that they had their whole lives ahead of them. Rock Lee wasn't put off by his personality and he became his number one student, someone who would carry on his fighting style of a hard worker, but now that was all gone like a candle in the wind.

"I'm sorry, Gai," said Kakashi, who was standing behind him in the rain that seemed to only be falling on the sad teacher. "No teacher should have to bury their student."

"He died like a true shinobi should," replied Gai. He got up and held his student in his arm, giving him to the only ANBU they brought along. "Take my student back to the village, he deserves a proper burial. Now Kakashi, we must go and get back your student so we don't have to burden Konoha with two funerals."

* * *

"Wait, why would Sasuke kill his entire clan," asked Naruto. "How could he do all of that?"

"They were shocked that a small kid with a sword was coming at them with the intent to kill," replied Sanjuro. "Sasuke was seeing his whole world crumbling before him and he blamed his clan for it, except Itachi and his mother. His father was easy to blame because he felt that Itachi's burden was causing him to become cold and distant, the burden his father placed on him. OF course when his brother saw what had happened, he didn't want to burden Sasuke with the knowledge that he killed his entire clan in a fit of madness so he used the mangekyou to make him believe that Itachi was the killer. Brotherly, I tell you, on the right day it can make me…vomit my guts out."

"Shouldn't we be leaving," asked Tobi. "More might show up if we stay here."

"We're going," declared Itachi, it meant no questions asked, but Sanjuro was always one to ask questions that always seemed to hit the nail on the head.

"Is it because your little brothers coming," asked Sanjuro. "Is it because you hate doing that whole act that causes him more torment and has ruined his life might I add?"

"Are you always this much of an asshole," asked a voice from the trees.

"We always keep finding each other don't we, Sasuke," said Naruto.

"Naruto don't worry, I think I can get Itachi to come back to Konoha," said Sasuke. He turned his head to the other group of Akatsuki men. "You all should leave Naruto alone or else we'll kill you all."

"Yeah, you and what fucking army," shouted Sanjuro pointing his sword at Sasuke.

"This army," replied Kakashi appearing out of virtually nowhere with Gai, Neiji, and Shikamaru. "Now then, can we ask that you return Naruto and leave peacefully, never to return?"

"Do you even have to ask," asked Sanjuro spinning his bade around. His sword had a wide curved blade like a dao, with curved spikes on the back.

"Brother, I now know what happened," shouted Sasuke. This seemed to actually surprise Itachi, who was put off by the idea that his brother knew the truth now. "I'm sorry for killing our clan and I'm sorry for forcing you to have to live this life, but please, come back to Konoha. I can get them to drop all charges against you and then you can be free of having to worry about anyone coming after you."

"My path has long since been chosen, little brother," replied Itachi actually showing a bit of regret. "You can stop the whole hating me part, but I have already gone so far that I doubt you can get every charge dropped. Besides, a ninja must become used to having a bounty on his head, it comes with the job."

"Naruto, quickly get over here," shouted Shikamaru. He was surprised to find that Naruto didn't move, but instead tossed something to Kakashi that was revealed to be his headband.

"So the cloak doesn't lie," said Kakashi, saddened by what the act meant.

"Yes, I am no longer a leaf ninja, but a member of the Akatsuki," replied Naruto with no emotion that it was almost like he was an imposter. He then turned to face them with another headband on, this one with a slash on the leaf symbol. "I won't be going back to my shattered world so I will make a new one, but I couldn't bring myself to harm that head band plate so I switched clothes with another blue cloth. Please give that to Iruka-sensei."

"Hey Naruto can I ask you something," asked Sanjuro as he pointed towards Gai. "That guy in the green spandex, is he like the father of that guy you stabbed, what's his name?"

"Naruto, you didn't kill Rock Lee," asked Gai, shocked at what he just heard.

"I said stabbed, never said kill," shouted Sanjuro in anger at being mistaken. "I killed the boy with this here sword, Naruto just stabbed in self defense."

"Enough words have been passed here, let's go," said Itachi.

"You killed my beloved student, now I will show you the power of the Flames of Youth," shouted Gai in rage.


	7. The Hard Good Bye

Chapter Seven: The Hard Good Bye

Disclaimer: Don't own shit.

* * *

Sasuke found it odd that after everything that had happened in his life, fate could make one more twist and place him and Naruto in the same scenario at the same place, but switch places. Now Sasuke was trying to stop Naruto from leaving with the Akatsuki, instead of Naruto trying to stop Sasuke from leaving with the sound. The water pounded the rocks at the bottom of its steep hill and it began to rain, just like it did before, when he had left Naruto dazed in a puddle. Sasuke knew it would be him that puddle this time, but he had to try at least. Dragging out his sword, he attempted to make a cut at Naruto, but instead Naruto just used a kunai to knock the sword away and punched Sasuke in the face. The force sent Sasuke flying back into the cliff walls that surrounded their battle field. Thinking quickly, Sasuke fired a kanton no jutsu that cause Naruto to dodge to the right, where a bushin was waiting to attack, but Naruto used a kunai to cut the clone away.

"Do you think that was enough to stop me," asked Naruto smirking at how futile Sasuke's tactics were. "Please, the only reason you were a threat when we fought was because the Kyuubi wasn't able to get out of my cage fully. I'd love to see you try it now, but I don't think little, pathetic, weak Sasuke could do anything."

"You asked for , baka," snarled Sasuke as he activated his sharingan and entered Naruto's mindscape.

Even though the overall complex was the same, it had a new darker décor that disturbed Sasuke at how much his friend had changed in his mind. There were locked doors made out of a cold metal that chilled at the touch and had claw marks covering the front of them, marking where the Kyuubi had gone in Naruto's mind. Some of the rooms weren't hidden by a door, but covered by barbed wire that seemed to also wrap itself around the pipes that went along the walls. Something ominous was in the air, something that filled Sasuke with a sense of dread with each step he took. With each step, it became more increasingly apparent that Sasuke that he could not deny no longer. He was lost and lost in a place he had been before, but somehow it had changed. He laughed at himself for never asking for directions until he was forced to, and there was usually no one around when he decided to ask for directions. Taking a turn down the corridor with the most barbed wire, Sasuke came to what looked like to be an abyss.

"What is this," asked Sasuke, not really expecting an answer, but he got one.

"This is where all my childhood memories are," said a voice, Naruto's voice. "Among them are all my bad memories of my adulthood, caused by the years of chasing you and dealing with Sakura's shit."

"It's because I helped create this abyss that I am determined to bring you back to the village," declared Sasuke as he turned his back to the abyss that ate at Naruto's mind.

* * *

"So what are you going to do," asked Sanjruo pointing his at Maito Gai as he licked his lips in a style not unlike Orochimaru. "You can't beat me at hand to hand so let's see your weapon skills, shall we?"

Gai unsheathed his dao and pointed it directly at Sanjuro. "I will avenge Lee with my own sword," declared Gai, finally speaking in a low voice.

"Now doesn't that sound threatning," replied Sanjuro with a laugh.

Itachi stared at his comrade with fear hidden behind the cold mask of his face and the stare the sharingan caused. He looked at Sanjuro with fear because after all the years he'd spent analyzing him, he was still surprised by what he would do. At sometimes he was calm cool and composed in his fights, other times he would have someone else do it and spend his time analyzing his victim, and other times he was bloodthirsty, fighting with reckless abandon. At those times you didn't get in the way of him less you wanted to lose a body part or your life. The truth was, Sanjuro was intentionally like this so he wouldn't be predictable, like others, and he did it so that they'd fear him. The more fear he had, the more he got his way with things. Itachi was hard to read, but Sanjuro had the ablility to sense things, not that he tried anything on Itachi. He had too much respect for Itachi to do anything of that nature with him.

Gai made the first move as he cocked his body back like a shotgun and burst forward with great speed that would have left a normal ninja in the dust. Unfortunately for Gai, none of the parties present were normal ninja, and Sanjuro could keep up with the "Flames of Youth King," as he was called by all of his subordinates and half the jonin in ANBU. Sanjruo dodged the attack by moving to one side so that Gai passed by him with enough speed so that Sanjuro couldn't get a cut on him as he passed by. Spitting the tooth pick out that was in his mouth, a sign that always meant he was getting serious, Sanjuro flash stepped up to Gai and attacked with a spinning vortex cut. TO do this he had to first get into a sprint for momentum then perform a perfect spin so he could keep spinning a fast enough pace that Gai wouldn't be able to counterattack. He then ended the attack with a sword thrust that nearly impaled Gai. Instead it gave him a deep gash in his vest and arm, which caused blood to pour from the wound driving Sanjuro even crazier. Thought he was always crazy, Sanjuro managed to limit himself in some cases, but in other cases all bets were off.

Shikamaru was watching the fight with great impatience, wanting to help Gai avenge his fallen student, whose blood still stained his shirt. He looked at Kakashi questioningly.

"Shouldn't we be stopping this," asked Shikamaru furious at Kakashi's inactivity.

"This fight is between Gai and the murderer of his favorite student," replied Kakashi. "He should do this on his own."

* * *

Sasuke had finally found the Kyuubi's cage, but he couldn't find any trace of the Kyuubi itself, even with his eyes. The room was just empty except for the puddles that came from what appeared to be leaks in the ceiling, though Sasuke had no idea why there would be leaks in Naruto's mindscape. That's when he realized something, the tag was upside down, and so was everything else. Looking up, he saw that everything was right side up, but he was upside down on the ceiling, with the Kyuubi on the floor above him ready to pounce. Sasuyke smirked; it saved him the trouble of finding it.

'Don't think that just because you pushed me back once that you will be able to do it this time," laughed the Kyuubi. Even though Sasuke was sure he could do it, the laugh made him uneasy, but not as uneasy as Naruto's sudden appearance. Nor as uneasy as Naruto's hand on his eye or the way it felt as something crawled into his eyes as if spiders had hatched eggs in them. Sasuke felt a fear he had never felt before, not even when he feared death.

"What are you doing," asked Sasuke screaming in terror and the unpleasant sensation in his eyes.

"Making sure you won't follow me," replied Naruto as he removed his hands. Sasuke saw, to his horror, that Naruto's eyes now held the sharingan. "Thank you for the gift, now please, don't follow me or else you'll find death."

* * *

They were waiting for Naruto to come back, so Sanjuro, Tobi and Itachi hid themselves well, knowing that Kakashi was betting on Sasuke making an appeal to Naruto. It was a fifty chance in everyone's mind except Naruto's mind. He was already so far past the line of no return that he forgot what the line looked like. They saw his eyes and no one was going to ask any questions or at least they shouldn't have, but Itachi had to know.

"What happened to Sasuke," asked Itachi.

"I sent him out of my mindscape," replied Naruto. "I took his sharingan to make sure he wouldn't follow."

"How did you do that," asked Sanjuro now interested.

"Kyuubi," replied Naruto.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to send for him," asked Kankuro.

"I've already given Miroku the letter," replied Gaara looking at the window as he sensed his friend Naruto going into the darkness he had once resided in. Twin stars fell from the sky to mark the passing of a student and teacher.

* * *

The raven soared through the sky with the grace of an eagle as its eyes searched for its owner's calling card. Then out of the landscape of the small village surrounded by dry, crusty earth, it saw a pile of bodies stacked up to form a circle. It was done this way for a quick disposal of multiple bodies, a missing nin hunter's trick, and when there were that many, only one hunter could be there. It circled the area before diving down to where it saw a tall man with short blond hair dressed in leather pants and a black trench coat reading a book. The man was very absorbed with the book, turning each page and letting his eyes travel each word. It was only when the raven pecked his shoulder that the hunter turned to look. He took the letter tied to its legs and smiled as he read it.

"A dangerous tracking mission with the chance to fight S-rank criminals," said the man liking the sounds of those words. His eyes had a black dot surrounded by a yellow circle and then a red circle. He summoned flames in his hands and let the ashes fall to the ground. "Hell, and it's about damn time."

* * *

Author's note: sorry it's late, problem with my laptop. I got it fixed and I'm going to be sending these things out regularly. Who is this mysterious man? What part will he play? Who will get paired with Naruto in the Akatsuki? All of these questions and more will be answered when I feel like it. 


	8. Enter Shenlong

Chapter 8: Enter Shenlong

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters, but if you're not careful, I'll own your soul.

* * *

Dragging back two bodies to Konoha, Kakashi and Shikamaru slowly made their way to the gates of Konha, to the where they would have to admit failure to the Hokage and all those who loved Naruto. What had they accomplished, nothing, and already the sun was looking les bright as it rose up over the horizon. It use to meant something to Kakashi as the sun was always the sign of a new day with the people who he valued in life, but now he would have to lose one of those people due to his inability to foresee what would happen. He felt he should have noticed Naruto's determination to leave Konoha, a place he had called home no matter what happened, but now it seemed like the darkness of the environment had taken a hold of his mind. Gai's body clung to Kakashi's shoulder, as if his "eternal rival" was trying to cling on to Kakashi for one last moment. The body that was once full of life was now cold and dead, standing as a testament to the power of time and fate. Nothing lasted forever.

"How should we explain this to Hokage-sama," asked Shikamaru. "How are we going to explain that we not only failed to bring back Naruto, but we lost two men and the last Uchiha lost his sharingan?"

"First off, I gave the order to not interfere with Gai's fight and sent Sasuke to bring back Naruto," replied Kakashi betraying no emotion in his voice, only his eyes showed how sad he was. "Second, what are you worried about, the leader always gets blamed for the failure of the team. You have nothing to worry about."

* * *

"Well here's the first lair," said Sanjuro pointing to a cave that was on the out skirts of a small town. The cave seemed to be nothing special, probably dark and damp like any other cave, but as soon as Naruto entered it, he saw that it was like a complex. The cave forced people to come in through one way and one way only, but it also had its disadvantage of being an easy target if all that was wanted was their deaths. One could just simply throw an explosive tag here and there and the cave would collapse in itself, trapping the inhabitants with limited air.

There was great speculation as to the numbers of the Akatsuki, with there being lower ranks based on power. There seemed to be many Akatsuki members, but he couldn't tell a grunt from an elite. The walls of the complex were made with a grey stone that seemed to give off a vision of bleakness. It would have been depressing for Naruto if he was paying attention, but one thing still stood in the back of his mind. Hyuuga Hinata, a rose by any other name. The woman who made him feel bad for leaving Konoha because she had always been there, she had always been there cheering him on and waiting to give him strength with her words, with her smile. But, unfortunately, she wasn't his, she was Inuzuka Kiba's girl and now she was so far beyond his reach. Sadness was creeping through him and Naruto found himself glad that the Sharingan betrayed no emotion at all because he couldn't show any weakness or else they might think it better to try and capture him. He needed a place to belong to now after leaving Konoha, a place that had once given comfort to Naruto, but now it was all gone and he was finding himself calm cool and composed. Comfort, a word that every heart knew because every heart needed comfort to beat, every heart needed safe in warmth. Where was his safe in warmth?

Reaching the place where he would receive his missions, Naruto found himself wishing that it was Tsunade who was giving him his missions. The deceivingly young looking Hokage, was always very caring towards him, something that made Konoha bearable, the people there who truly cared for him and not the shadow his father created. Instead there was just a shadow or hollow image of the leader, keeping in contact through a jutsu. The leader was as friendly looking as the reaper, with all the warmth of a cemetery, this was definitely not Konoha. So many things different, but then again so was Naruto, no longer that innocent boy who use to dream of becoming Hokage so people would notice him.

"Uzumaki Naruto, at last we meet," said the leader in voice that was emotionless as a tombstone. "I have looked forward to seeing you for some time and I'm glad that you have come willingly into our plans. I shall have you paired with Itachi."

"So do I get Kisame," asked Sanjuro, hoping to trade in his useless team mate.

"No, Kisame is getting someone else," replied the leader. You are to remain with Tobi until I say otherwise."

"Damn it, why the hell do I have to be stuck with useless fuck," asked Sanjuro, outraged at the leader's decision. "If this is for spitting in your tea that one time, I didn't know it was your tea!"

"No, that was Itachi's tea and I already sent Kisame on a mission to kill the hunter brought in from suna, since he is one of the Seven Swordsmen."

"So am I," exclaimed Sanjuro. "Why am I not also being sent to fight him? He was stronger than Kisame before so don't you want the person who could beat him?"

"Kisame requested this personally and I needed someone more stable," replied the leader. "My decision is final, so take Naruto to his room and I'll find something to test his skill."

"But what about me," asked Tobi, unable to keep out what he wanted to say. "I want some notoriety to you know? I'm getting sick and tired of being noticed as Sanjuro's team mate."

"You want notoriety," asked Sanjuro. "Why don't you get a megaphone and shout, 'after coming out of Sanjuro's ass, Tobi has come out to fucking pla-e-aaay."

* * *

Hinata, Kiba and Shino waited for the train with great anticipation, as they knew that the man getting off would help them find the Akatsuki. Hinata was determined to make the Akatsuki pay for killing Naruto, but her team mates knew that the reason they were looking for the Akatsuki was that Naruto was one of them now. The Godaime decided that it was best to not tell Hinata that Naruto was one of the AKatsuki, so she was told that they had killed him to obtain his Kyuubi. It hurt her, like someone had stabbed her in the heart and all she could think of was how much she wanted to kill each and every one of them. It was then that a large set of footsteps came from behind them causing them to turn to see Kisame with two of his grunts by his side. His grin was as unpleasant as his breath, that stank like a slaughter house, a smell that made them cringe in disgust as he breathed heavily.

"Well it appears that we found where Shenlong will be appearing," he said smirking at the three frightened leaf jonin. Neither knew how strong he was, but he was one of the legendary swordsmen, he was bound to be dangerous.

"Well I was right to walk the way here," said a man with dark sunglasses, short blond hair, and was dressed in black. He wore a suna headband on his forehead, as did the woman by his side who seemed a bit frustrated about something. "So now I guess you owe me 100 ryo."

"I wasn't betting for the one hundredth time and why did we have to leave the train," asked the woman.

"Yuki I do not have time to be fighting with you okay," replied the blond man. He was carrying a duffel bag and he had a nodachi on his back. "Well if it isn't Kisame, did you come for a little reunion or did you just miss me."

"I actually came to make it five Legendary Swordsmen," said Kisame, the grin getting wider.

"Well I see your still carrying that giant tampon on your back," said the man.

Kisame made the move to cut, but his sword was taken off from his back and swung in an awkward motion, giving the man time to adjust his position so that the blade went right past him. He then took his sword off his back slowly and swung his sword with his left hadn. It was parried by Kisame's sword, which put force on the blade to drive the man back. The man didn't seem to pay attention to where he was being pushed and fell of the train platform.

"You've gotten weak," laughed Kisame as he dived for the man. The man dodged the attack and ran further into the platform. Kisame rushed in the direction the man had gone, but he was having trouble adjusting to the dark underside of the platform.

"Welcome to my night," said the man, who was now behind Kisame. The man's eyes were glowing red and yellow as Kisame saw the form of his inevitable death.

* * *

"It should be only a few minutes," said Yuki as she sat on the capturd Akatsuki grunt.

"Is he Shenlong," asked Kiba, wondering if the man was the Suna ninja hunter that they were waiting for. At that moment a hand burst through the platform, something that looked like a beast's claw, but then it started changing into a human arm and out climbed the man who had fought with Kisame. He was tired and wounds on his body, but he was still carrying his heavy looking nodachi.

"Yeah," replied the man. "I'm him."


	9. Initiation

Chapter 9: Initiation.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters.

* * *

The two people who hadn't said a word for the entire trip were Shino and the mysterious Shenlong, who also kept his sunglasses up. The man was a mystery to everyone, including the woman by his side named Yuki, who had been with him for so long and was often praising Shenlong's fighting abilities. Shenlong just walked on sometimes taking his time to look at the nature that was around him, the vibrant green of the trees which seemed to be more important to him than what anyone was saying around. He seemed so out of touch with the world around him sometimes that it looked like he might vanish from existence. A conversation would be started between him, but it would end quickly and awkwardly for the person who had started the conversation, unless that person was Yuki. She was the only person he said anything to that was more than a few sentences long. Kiba couldn't stand a guy who was worse than Shino, who was now able to actually able to have conversations that wasn't just someone talking and him nodding his head. His relationship with Ino had brought about that change to him, which was something since after being around a loud mouth like Kiba, someone would have thought he'd change, but Shino only changed when he had a chance encounter with Ino. She was looking for him that day.**

* * *

**

Shino was standing in a tree outside a flower shop that was run by a girl that he knew from association with Naruto and through various missions. She was beautiful, positively stunning, but he knew that girls didn't like bugs so he always marked her down as a possible failed romance in his mind, not that he had much time for romance with the way the missions had him hopping. He had to be many places at once to help track down some of the criminals in the bingo book. Hinata would only be friend, she was with Kiba now, but he knew that as soon as Naruto told Sakura to stuff her shit right back up her ass, Hinata would be with Naruto. Kiba knew that for some time, but he also knew that what he felt for Hinata wasn't love, in a way it was like being siblings. Shino didn't know what to do with his new found free time since most of the books he read were hard to find and the book stores that had them were always out of stock so he had to specially order it. It was at that moment that he sensed her presence and he knew she was staring at him for some reason, but he didn't think it meant that he could mean that she could put her on the possible romance list.

"Do you need something Ino-san," asked Shino as he turned around to face her. When he saw her stare, he knew that she was staring at him with lust, he could see in those pretty blue eyes of hers that were seemed like they were transfixed on him.

"Um…yes, I was hoping you could help me with a problem I'm having with caterpillars," replied Ino a bit nervous at being caught staring at Shino. It was something with the wind, something that fate had done, because when she saw the wind blowing his hair she thought of how cool he looked standing there. "I know you've been dealing with a lot of missions, but could you please do this one thing for me?"

"No problem," replied Shino as he hopped off the tree, landing with feline grace. This only made Ino feel more light headed with him around since she had always loved how mysterious and handsome he was.

Ino helped him into the shop where he found the flowers were crawling with caterpillar. After much negotiation, which surprised Shino that Ino had this much patience for a bug, Shino was able to help both sides come to an agreement that the caterpillars would get the rose clippings and fallen petals as long as they stayed off the roses in the store. It was a relief for Ino, whose family's shop had been suffering from the many complaints customers received from the caterpillars being in the flowers. Maybe that was the reason that she did it, or maybe she had wanted to do that because something about his mysteriousness had attracted her, but at that moment, Yamanake Ino wrapped her arms around Shino.

"Oh I'm sorry Shino-san," said Ino shocked at what she just did. She had always pegged Shino down as the type of person who didn't like to be touched all of sudden, but to her surprise he just smiled at her.

"It's alright, you feel warm and good," replied Shino, something that made Ino think he was an imposter because the words were far from anything Shino would utter. "I rather like your hugs, they feel very comforting for someone people usually avoid."

"Th-thank you Shino-san, I never expected you to be interested in someone who talked a lot like me," said Ino as she turned her head. After what he said it made it hard for her to look at him.

"I'm actually very interested in you Ino-chan," said Shino was he pulled off his hood and let his hair out again, the beautifully conditioned hair that had captivated Ino so much when it was blowing in the wind. She wanted to reach out and touch it, but she resisted the urge not knowing what Shino would think. She was even more surprised when he took off the covering to reveal his whole face, the handsome face that was only accented by those mysterious sun glasses. "I wonder if you would be interested in knowing me better."

"Yes, I would be interested," said Ino.

**FLASHBACK ENDS**

* * *

They stopped to set up camp for the night, Shenlong taking the time to sit on a tree and gaze at the beauty of nature once again while carrying a conversation with his partner. Yuki talked mostly, but Shenlong seemed to be more talkative around her, which made Kiba and Hinata believe that something was going on between the two. They wouldn't say anything because after seeing that monstrous arm coming out of the platform, they decided there was more to the man than met the eye. Also, unlike Shino, the mysterious aura the man generated seemed only to make him seem more dangerous than it did to make him look cool. Hinata got up and patted the dirt off herself as she walked over to the lake to bathe as she told her team mates and the two new arrivals.

* * *

Naruto new that this new mission would be his initiation into the Akatsuki, but this mission seemed to be reminiscent of one he had been on when he traveled to the land of Snow. This time it would be different because back then he had a different team, a different personality, and a different reason for doing what he was doing. Back then it was to put the rightful ruler back into power, but this time it was to take over a small nation to set up bases for the Akatsuki with the help of a puppet usurper. He was traveling with his new partner, Itachi, which he found funny as hell since it wasn't long ago that he would only see Itachi when there would be another attempt to capture him. The other two who accompanied them were also a mismatched pair. Sanjuro was a well established Akatsuki member who was stuck with an unknown person of little talent and courage named Tobi. Sometimes fate was a real bitch, something Naruto had learned from birth, ever since the Kyuubi was sealed inside of him. The thing that really pissed him off wasn't that it was his own father, but that after all his father did they never really understood his last wish, which was to have the boy celebrated as a hero. Someday he would return to that village, but he would most likely return as its conqueror.

"Tobi shut up or I'll rip you limb from limb with the kunai I keep in my back pocket," shouted Sanjuro as he glared at Tobi, only turning to face Naruto and Itachi. "I'm going to cool off in whatever lake's nearby, you guys coming."

"Can I come," asked Tobi as if he was a child of six.

"No," said Sanjuro in a murderer's voice.

* * *

Hinata removed her jacket as she let it fall down to the ground with grace as she then pulled her jacket over her head and then went to for the rest of her clothes. Instead of bathing in the lake she found an onsen where she could relax her body. Slowly, she lowered her butt her into the water and felt the warmth soothe her body, but being alone made her think of Naruto. She wanted him to be there to see her like this, since she once walked into a drunken Sakura and Temari giving him a strip tease in the bar that one time, but she thought he didn't like big breasts since he chased after Sakura a lot and she had the chest of a preteen. The stars were shining beautifully above her and she wished he was there to enjoy it with her, but he wasn't there and she was so wrapped in sorrow that she didn't notice the man getting into the hot spring. She was shocked to see him there, but he put on a cheerful smile.

"Hello, my name is Sanjuro," said the man.


	10. Twist

Chapter 10: Twist

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters. Also because school has started up again I won't be able to write these things as fast as I could.

* * *

"So are we understood on what you are supposed to do," asked Tsunade as she looked at the team of jonin in the room.

"I get Jiraiya finding out about the mission," replied Iruka. "Sending a team of four on the mission is the right course of action since Naruto is surrounded by dangerous Akatsuki members, but what I don't get is why you're sending me. I only just became a jonin and we both know I'm not that strong so shouldn't you replace me with someone better."

"You are on this team for one reason," replied Tsunade staring at Iruka over her cup of sake that she had kept beside her since she heard of Naruto's departure. "You are the closest thing Naruto has to a father and if anyone can turn him back it's you. Sure I could have a lot of powerful jonin on this team, but I don't know how taking Naruto back with force would do, especially since we don't know how powerful Naruto is right now. That is the one unknown that is the most dangerous of all."

"Okay, but why is Sasuke not here either," asked Anko, who was put on this team with Kakashi do to her various talents. "He is like a brother to Naruto, that is why Naruto didn't kill him the last time."

"The reason for that is me," said Kakashi as he looked out to the rain. It had been raining for days, as if the clouds were weeping for the loss of innocence in the village, the innocence that Naruto represented. "I saw that maybe Naruto has severed his bonds with Sasuke and has taken Sasuke to be one of the people responsible for bringing him down to that level. That's also the reason Sakura isn't on this squad."

"So your objective is clear," asked Tsunade as she took another sip.

"Rendezvous with the other team and then help sabotage Akatsuki activity," said Kakashi with soldier like obedience. He then led his team outside of the building as he looked at how they all seemed to be a bit down. Ever since Naruto they learned that Naruto had betrayed Konoha and left to go over to the ones who had tried to kill him, everyone seemed to be a little depressed.

The team consisted of Kakashi, Anko, Iruka, and another jonin named Shinji. The latter was added to make the team stronger since he was very talented at fighting and moved with a speed that impressed even Kakashi. He had also volunteered to bring back Naruto ever since it was learned that Tsunade was putting a team together, though the reason why was yet to be known so everyone else in the team kept a close eye. They knew of ROOT sending in Sai to secretly kill Sasuke without telling Tsunade. They made their way to gather all supplies and weapons for the mission, something that would be very important for the mission ahead of them.

"So why did you choose to join this team," asked Kakashi as he cleaned the sword he hadn't had to use in a long time. It was a gift from his old sensei, the Yondaime, and he always used it when he really needed to otherwise he'd take a kunai instead.

"I joined because I wanted to bring Naruto-san back after helping us," replied Shinji. "He helped Sai remember his emotions and in turn changed ROOT forever. We looked up to Naruto, who proved how strong a ninja can be even with emotion. Also most of us can feel for Naruto after having no one to love us."

"So the puppets have cut their string," joked Anko as she checked the condition of her kodachi , another gift from her sensei, the only one that she cared for.

"All shinobi are puppets from anyway you look at them," replied Shinji without the smile he wore before. "We are expected to give it all for the mission and we are used often, but sometimes we can be just as controlling as the puppeteer."

"Do we have to have this talk right now," asked Iruka, who was growing impatient as the minutes went by and the comments got bleaker. "We have a mission to o and we shouldn't waste time like this."

"He's right we should make our way to the other group as soon as possible," said Kakashi.

* * *

Hinata blushed as the man, the naked man, drank from the bottle of sake that he had on him. His headband was left near his clothes so Hinata couldn't tell what village he was from, but he did seem more friendly than what she thought the Aktasuki were like, most of them either being emotionless or psychotic. Trying to take the focus at his nakedness, Hinata started a conversation with him. The man named Sanjuro seemed to really be pissed with the predicament he was in, being stuck with a worthless partner and all. He had red hair that was long and spiky, just like Jiraiya's hair. Even though the man was friendlier than the Akatsuki members she had run into, Hinata still kept herself aware to everything around her and any movements he made. Then he went and dropped the atom bomb that changed everything.

"You must Hyuuga Hinata," said the man as he casually took a drink of his sake. Hinata was shocked to find that the man had known her name before she even introduced herself to him.

"How do you know who I am," asked Hinata, her hand going back to her kunai pouch that was close to the bank.

"Oh I've heard so much about you from him," replied Sanjuro as his demeanor seemed to change just like the main villain in those old dramas. "Surely you don't think Naruto would forget you, do you?"

"Naruto is dead, the Akatsuki took him and killed him," shouted Hinata as she removed the kunai from the pouch and sunk into a fighter's position.

"You sure about that because last I checked he joined the ranks of the Akatsuki," said Sanjuro with mock confusion, pretending as if he had been mistaken about something. "He's alive, in good health, and with Itachi. If you want to see him then you have to join up or become my prisoner. So will you come or will you stay?"

He stuck his hand out towards her, offering to take her to the man she loved so much, but there was still the off chance that the Akatsuki were trying to capture her for some unknown reason. She moved a bit closer, not putting the Kunai back into its pouch just in case he was lying. Sanjuro's look changed when the sword was put to his neck. Before the sword was there, he had the look of someone who enjoyed manipulating people, but when he felt the cold metal against his neck, Sanjuro's face turned into a puzzled look. Sighing he turned to the person holding the sword.

"Would you mind removing the sword from my neck Itachi," asked Sanjruo.

* * *

Gaara walked on the road, unperturbed by the scorching sun that was above his head having been born in the desert. Despite how pale his skin was, he could stand the heat very much do to the use of the sand that circulated around his body. Travelling after him was two of his most trusted jonin, his brother and sibling, Kankuro and Temari. None of them question him when he talked about going to aid the team from Konoha, but Temari couldn't help, but feel an ominous feeling in the air, as if something was looming dangerously over their heads.

"Shouldn't we be bringing more jonin with us," asked Temari. "If you give me a day to prepare, we could have a team of jonin with us instead of going in there with just us three."

"Not enough time," replied Gaara as he walked on.

"We should have at least brought Baki with us," complained Kankuro.

"True he may be good, but with the opponent's we're dealing with, I need my elite's," said Gaara. "You two passed him a while back and I already have Shenlong on this, any more and we'd be too obvious."

"If you were to die it would be disaster for the village," shouted Kankuro as he ran in front of his little brother. In the old days he'd be too scared to do something like that, but Gaara had changed from what he used to be. That was thanks to Naruto that was the reason why they were chasing after Naruto, to repay him back for all the help that he gave them so long ago.

"I do, but I am determined not to die before I find the thing I'm constantly looking for."

* * *

"Do you think Hinata is alright," asked Kiba, a bit worried about her, he seemed to take this habit of acting like an older brother to her, more so than Neiji.

"Is that the real reason you're asking about how she's doing or do you just have the urge to see her in the lake," asked Shenlong, the first time he had said anything to anybody that wasn't about the mission.

"No I'm just worried about her," replied Kiba. He then saw something strange on Shenlong's face as the mysterious jonin started smelling the air with concentrated and now mysterious eyes. "What is it?"

"I smell someone nearby along with Hinata," said Shenlong. "There's another with them to, but the one I know is the danger now. We have to go now."


	11. Inner Workings

Chapter 11: Inner Workings

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters associated with Naruto. The OCs are mine though and if you want to use them then please PM before using them. Alright, aslo I've been typing these things during lunch so you guys get regular updates, and the ratio of reviews is very slim. People please review, especially if you like the story.

* * *

The leader of the Akatsuki sat there on the mountain top as he checked into the network of the Akatsuki, making sure the inner workings were correct and in order. It had been a long time since the organization had been built on the foundations of his dream, the dream to keep the world in peace by taking it over. For this dream he had killed and ordered the deaths of many, but it was all to lead to a goal that would benefit mankind as a whole. Never had he been one to label his actions as righteous or malevolent, just that they were what they were. Twenty years, that was how long the Akatsuki had been running and at that time the group had grown to an enormous number and gained a reputation that was kept in the shadows, only whispered into the ears of those who paid good money for such services. As with an organization, the leader had to be wary of hounds trying to take over and the other threat, the informant, which he now needed to solve at the moment.

"Well it seems like Moritsune is the rat we've been looking for," said the transparent messenger who knelt before his leader as a sign of submission. "We have concluded from the testimony of the receiver of Moritsune's information that he works for the Sound village."

"Good work, you are dismissed," replied the leader as he waved the messenger away with his hand. He then got up called for Noh, his lover and second in command who saw to everything that he needed done. "Noh I need for a piece of paper to be brought here and for one of the birds to deliver it, preferably a hawk if we have one."

"Yes, sir," replied the submissive Noh as she ran to grab the paper and send the servant boy for a bird. Her cloak was worn in a fashion so that it would show off the most skin for him to see and as a way to show his mark on her. The mark that meant she belonged to someone, him, and only him. Her breasts were large at about a d-cup and they were nearly bursting out of her cloak, so much that her friend, Fujistburo, had often told her to wear a bra, but she had always refused this since she did that for the man she loved.

He was silent as he wrote on the paper, trying not to look at the woman who entertained his every whim and fancy. After signing the paper, he folded it and tied it to the leg of the bird as he let it fly off into the horizon. He then turned back to his love, the woman he loved, but rarely showed it so as not to seem weak. When they made love in bed he would whisper words of his affection into her ear, telling her everything he couldn't tell her during the day, but wanted to do so much. His eyes looked over her body with lust and wanting as his hands reached out to grab the back of her head and bring her into a passionate kiss. This was the moment that the guards left and this was the moment in which he felt he could escape from the pains of his work. Her cloak was tied around her with a Obi just as one would do with a kimono and he pulled the cloth, causing her clothes to drop to the floor and give him the full view of her body. Her luscious breasts exposed to everything, including the tongue that he brought over it as he tasted it. She blushed as she always, a thing which enhanced the pleasure of tasting her, and then she moaned as he sucked on her nipples a bit, teasing them to further erection. He knew everywhere to please him and how to do it. Then he removed his tongue from her breast and started playing with them in his hand as he manipulated them with the right rubs and tugs. The moaning was like music to his ears and he waited for the right moment to stop using his hands and when it came he replaced it with his tongue. He loved doing this to her, relished in the act of playing with her like a child does with a toy, but he knew he would enjoy it more when he let her please him. Removing his hands from where they were on her breasts and stepping back, he gave her a look that told her exactly what he wanted.

She dropped to her knees as her hands went to remove his cloak and his belt that was holding his pants up. His erection was pressing against his underwear when she removed his pants, causing her to stare at it, always amazed at his size, and then she removed his underwear. The feel of her mouth on his erection was so intoxicating that he felt that it was the only thing that mattered. She had so much power over him when she pleased him, but she didn't know, a thing that he was glad of because he always wanted to stay in control of things. Her tongue was playing tricks with his dick in her mouth, but it all felt good, even if it was a tease.

The man outside the door was silently chuckling at how good his plan was going and he knew that soon he could start striking a bit of discord into those he needed to. Now all he needed to do was for Naruto to be driven on the edge of reason, something that he hoped would happen if his spy in Konoha could get his hands on Sasuke. He had the urge to laugh, but he held it in so as not to make his presence known to the occupants of the room. Noh was so good at being a seductress, but he couldn't help but feel that she was slowly starting to like the man she was supposed to be playing. Moristune knew that he had to keep a close watch on her so as not to let his plans come to nothing. He was glad that events had worked in his favor so that he could Naruto into the Akatsuki, fortune surely meant for him to succeed.

* * *

Sanjuro stared at Itachi as if the sword against his neck wasn't there. There was something odd about how Itachi used his sword to threaten instead of just telling him to stop what he was doing as was Itachi's usual reaction for everything. Something was different about Itachi, maybe he had finally gone soft like Sanjuro joked he always would, but then he realized there was something wrong about this Itachi.

"Would you please just reveal yourself and stop playing around," sighed Sanjuro as he pushed the blade away from his neck. "She thinks that Naruto-san is dead, meaning that she was told that we killed him. Don't you find it cruel to keep the truth from her, eh Naruto-san?"

"Na-Naruto," said a shocked Hinata, who was staring at the man who had just been identified as the man she loved.

The image of Itachi puffed away to reveal a sharingan wielding Naruto in an Akatsuki cloak, proving her fears true. She took a step towards him to try and reach out and touch him to see if he was still real, but as soon as she got close she felt a strange drowsiness that suddenly vanished and she knew it was a genjustu. As soon as she released herself from the genjutsu she found that Naruto and the man known as Sanjuro was gone without a trace leaving her there, alone again. Sensing someone nearby, she ran to put her clothes on before the person showed up, but only got her underwear on when Shenlong appeared before her in a swarm of ravens. The sight of a man appearing out of a swarm of ravens would frighten anybody, but Hinata was already to shocked form seeing Naruto alive and with the ones who had tried to kill him before. The shock of Naruto being in the Akatsuki was made worse by the fact that she had been lied to by her own team mates and that they had tried to keep her in the dark on everything. She could hear Kiba calling out to her and Shenong's reply of shut the hell up, which is exactly what Hinata wanted to say. She was full of a lot of things that she wanted to say, but she held them back, for now it wasn't the time to say any of those things. Figuring she could just manage that, Hinata slapped Kiba on the face.

"YOU BASTARD," she yelled at the top of her lungs before she slapped him again and stormed off.

"Hinata what is it, I didn't tell them you were here, Shenlong traced your scent here," cried Kiba defensively as he ran towards her. He thought the she had it in her mind that he had told Shenlong where she was so he could peek on her while she bathed.

"You lied to me," she cried, tears running down her cheek from the pain of being told a lie by someone she trusted like a brother. "You told me Naruto was dead, but I saw him, I saw him with the Akatsuki. Why didn't you tell me?"

"We didn't want to burden you with the knowledge," said Kiba. "We were planning to have Shenlong track him down and then Shino would send a message to another team to make the pickup and Naruto would be back without you having to be broken in two. You already have stress from the duties of leading the Hyuuga clan, we didn't think that you needed another burden."

"I'm not as weak as you think Kiba," said Hinata in anger, not just at Kiba, but at the others who made the decision. "Sure the news would have hurt me, but it wouldn't hurt as much as Naruto being dead or as much as it did finding out the way I just did."

"It wasn't his decision to keep you in the dark," said a voice from above. It was Kakashi standing on a tree with the rest of his team right behind him, each in a different tree. "I made the decision so that you wouldn't go out looking for Naruto just as he did for Sasuke. The Hyuuga have enemies to and to lose the heiress to the Hyuuga clan would be disastrous for Konohagakure, but it seems that now you're just going at the Akatsuki with no aim."

"That reason I can understand, but still, did you not entertain the thought that I would find out some way or the other," asked Hinata, her anger dying down inside of her body.

"I did, but that's why I decided not to tell you until we had some way for you to go after Naruto and still have someone with you," replied Kakashi. "Also known as, this mission."

* * *

"Why did you have to let her know," asked Naruto as he ate his ramen near the camp fire. It was risky building a fire so he had to start fires in other areas around just to confuse someone or give illusion to greater numbers. "It might have been better for her go on living with the idea that I was dead."

"Now that would have been cruel to do," replied Sanjuro laughing at the idea. "If we let her go on thinking that then when she did find out, and she would, you would cause her more hurt than if you were dead. Plus, why should you care, you abandoned that village and her along with it? Unless of course….you're willing to have her come along with you and then you two can get married and live happily ever after in the organizations utopia."

"Is that the goal of your organization," asked Naruto. "I thought that you were planning to obtain all the demons that were out there."

"Well there just happen to be others that we've been trying to procure ever since we learned that there were more," replied Sanjuro. "I mean, why would we worry about taking over some small principality unless we were planning to do some conquering? Anyway, our leader wants to keep the world safe from war by taking over. Me I'm just trying to get what's coming to me."

"What's that," asked Itachi this time, trying to get some insight into the man who he would have to work with.

"A good fight," replied Sanjuro right before a bird landed on Tobi's head and pecked at it. "Tobi, sometimes I wonder if you weren't an incest child or if you're retarded."

Itachi reached over to take the paper off of Tobi's head and read it carefully since Sanjuro always claimed he couldn't read.

"Well it seems that we have found our rat and it's Moristune," grinned Sanjuro as he looked at Naruto. "Lucky you, you get to do the honors."

* * *

"Well it's about time you showed up, Kakashi," said Shenlong as he stared at Kakashi through his sunglasses. "I thought the team was of four."

"Iruka's gone missing, most likely he's gone after Naruto," replied Kakashi. "I feel an ominous feeling in the air, as if fate is telling me the day is near, the day when sons will kill fathers."


	12. Killing Away

Chapter Twelve: Killing Away

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters associated with Naruto.

* * *

The fourth ward of the dragon District was always full of its fair share of trouble and as such, it had earned a nasty reputation with the people who had to patrol that section. Maiku was one of those men and just like one of those men, he would constantly question why he had decided to join the guard in the first place. Most of the people who were in this district were scum and the children were raised to be violent, it was, if anything, what hell would look like. That particular night was different from all the others, it was more peaceful than other nights. He let out a sigh of relief at not having to deal with the usual shit that he had to put up with begrudgingly. Just as he got a seat at the wards watchtower, an explosion echoed from one of the houses in the district. It was followed by another explosion and then accompanied by what looked like a giant panther that ravaged the district with someone standing on its head. Immediately realization struck him as he had been informed at the daily briefings of the possibility of an invasion, but he had always thought it was a just the work of superstitious ninja. Who the hell would want to conquer that shit hole of a monarchy?

"Hey private," shouted one of the elite guards with a captains insignia on his shoulder. "Line up with a squad and get moving to the castle. Don't forget your duty to protect the royal family."

Maiku gulped as he grabbed his sword and walked out to join his fellow squad mates, who looked like they hated doing their duty as much as he did. The captain was all fire and brimstone when he ordered them to march towards the palace, ignoring the explosions that were going on around them. He didn't know that much of the destruction was being done by two people as a distraction and he didn't know that the other two were already at the palace.

* * *

The man he was supposed to kill greeted Naruto as he showed him the way into the palace that the royal family would take. Of course the rat didn't work for the family so he wasn't suspecting a trap, but he had to be on his guard because a rat was never to be trusted. The way in just happened to be under the central pipe system for the palace so the passage way was cold and damp. Upon exiting the passage way, Naruto looked at what the man had with him. It was a scythe with a small handle that was obviously supposed to be the tool of a gardener. This man probably played so many false identities he forgot his own a long time ago. Not wanting to waste time later or give the rat a chance to sabotage the whole operation, Naruto decided to kill the man right then and there.

"Hey you go first and tell me how many," said Naruto as he patted the guy on his shoulder to get his attention, just like a friend would. It was meant to make him feel at ease.

"Why should I go first, you're the special Akatsuki," complained the man, Moritsune. It was true, when Naruto joined up they had him made an elite from the start do to his power.

"You look like some panicky gardener no one would question you," assured Naruto as he gave a fake smile that convinced the man of his sincerity. As soon as the man had turned his back to Naruto, Naruto wrapped a string of piano wire around his neck and pulled tightly.

Moristune fought for air as the wire cut into his neck so torturously slow like and then finally, when Naruto was getting tired of the whole thing, he pulled hard on the string, severing Moristune's head from his neck.

"So that's how you are now, Naruto," asked a voice from the far side of the corridor.

"Iruka sensei, how did you find me," asked Naruto as he smiled at the man who was like a father to him.

"I always do Naruto," said Iruka with a hint of sadness in his voice. "What happened to that little kid who once dreamed about being Hokage?"

"The cruelty of life killed him," replied Naruto. "Somehow along the way, he found that everything around him was hostile only changing because of his father and not because everyone realized how wrong they had been to judge him. It was those same tyrannous stars, the ones that had given him his scar, that are the ones that gave rise to a new boy. He wasn't strong enough to survive the cruelty of this world without changing and so he changed."

"Is that what you've become Naruto," asked Iruka, the anger rising in his voice. "Have you become so cold and heartless? Have you become that monster that Mizuki claimed you were so long ago?"

"Am I really the monster," asked Naruto. "Why is it that all the credit goes to me and not the society that changed me? Why am I being put on trial for changing to survive, is that not what evolution is?"

"How could you turn your back on everyone who cared about you and is sad now that you've betrayed us," asked Iruka. "What about those who love you, like Hinata or Sakura?"

"Sakura never loved me," corrected Naruto. "To her I was just a puppet on a string that she could make dance to her tune, but now I do the playing. Hinata…she belongs to someone else, and that someone isn't me, the lucky bastard."

"You're not Naruto," shouted Iruka in outrage at the words he was hearing from the man who had once been the little blond boy who he looked after like a father looks after a son. "You killed Naruto and I'll never let you get away with that."

"I'm sorry Iruka sensei, but this, I guess, is where we part ways," said Naruto sadly as he pulled out his sword.

* * *

"Well it looks like things are getting interesting," said Sanjuro as he got that sick look in his eye, the look that meant that someone was going to die by his sword. He and Itachi were starting to cause mass chaos to confuse the guards while Naruto went in and killed the royal family, but they were stopped by Kakashi and Shenlong.

"Well it looks like reunion," said Shenlong as he took the big sword on his back off. "Kakashi, I leave Itachi to you. He and I have an old score to settle."

"Same with Itachi and me," replied Kakashi as he pulled up his headband and looked at Itachi. Itachi had unsheathed his katana and had taken a sword fighting stance as Kakashi took out his own sword and did the same. This would be an interesting fight.

* * *

"I'm sorry Iruka sensei," said Naruto, this time without the sadness. His voice was devoid of emotion and it no one would have guessed that the man who lay dead was one his most beloved teacher and his only father figure. His eyes were also cold, but then again, the mangekyou was never meant to look warm. "This was one fight I did not want to take place, but it did and I cannot change it, no matter how much I wanted to."

Author's note: Next chapter, the coup in the Akatsuki takes place with surprising results and see who is better, Sanjuro or Shenlong.


	13. Versus

Chapter 13: Versus

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters of Naruto.

* * *

The man stood on the edge of the cliff to see everything that would happen in the Akatsuki that day and carryout his own plant that he had been planning for so long. The wind blew his long black hair in the wind as he called his ninja to draw near to the main Akatsuki compound, glad that Sanjuro had helped him this far. Everything was unfolding, and pretty soon, even the most carefully laid plans would find themselves caught into a scenario it could not have foreseen.

"Well it should be happening anytime soon," said the man as he poured himself a cup of wine casually and held it up for all the men around the room. "For years we have just stood in the shadows, biding our time until today, the day we finally tale over. Now I would like you all to join me in the destruction of the Akatsuki."

He brought his cup to his mouth and was about to take a sip of it when one of his messengers burst into the room in a panic causing the man to choke on his sake. He ran his hair through his red hair as he gave the messenger a look that told him that if he didn't have a good reason for bursting in he would be food for the crows.

"I'm sorry Lord Shirro, but one our scouts have reported that the Akatsuki leader and others have fled," said the messenger quickly. This was the atomic bomb that would have been the messenger's death if Shirro wasn't mad at someone else.

"How dare that woman betray me like this," shouted Shirro as he broke the wine glass in his hand, not noticing that his hand was bleeding. "She was my spy, I taught her everything she knows and she has the nerve to fall in love with her target."

"She was never your spy," said one of the men among the group, who was immediately the target of everyone's eyes.

"What are you talking about," asked Shirro in a demanding tone. He then started to notice how the man looked different, something was different about him, but he couldn't describe it. Then the walls exploded with fire as ninja forced their way in, not Akatsuki, but sound ninja. Out of the rubble stood the man he had been talking to with torn flesh that revealed a surprisingly white skin underneath.

"She was always my spy and I merely allowed her to give him some information so you're other operations would be destroyed by Pein," said the man as he removed the rest of the flesh to reveal the face of someone long thought dead. "You see, the Akatsuki is competition enough, but you going rogue, well that just isn't something I can stand for."

"What are you doing here, Orochimaru," asked Shirro. "Shouldn't you be burning in the fires of hell?"

"I got lonely so I thought I'd invite and old friend to join me," replied Orochimaru with one of his depraved grins that never meant anything good. He stretched out one hand as he formed hand seals with the other. "I can do jutsus now, all by myself."

Shirro didn't think any more as the snakes impaled him, snaking their way inside of him until they came out of his mouth. Orochimaru just grinned as he stood among all the death and destruction that he had created. To his left was one of his faithful servants who took the place of Kabuto, his old right hand man. A sigh always followed the memories of Kabuto, someone who had so much potential if he hadn't tried to absorb of piece of himself, he might have lived.

"Do you know where Shenlong-san is," asked Orochimaru.

"Yes sir, we have learned he is on one the Akatsuki's missions to take over a small monarchy," replied the ninja.

"Good, I think I shall go to my friend and tell him of the good news."

* * *

Itachi was surprised at how much Kakashi had improved since they had lost fought, but he still seemed to be not as fast as Itachi. What Kakashi lacked in speed he made up with quick thinking and he had somehow managed to obtain the mangekyou sharingan. Itachi dodged the shuriken that were thrown at him, but he was then met by one of Kakashi's drop kicks. Using a substitution jutsu, Itachi managed to escape the attack, which could have meant disaster for him. The sword went up to block the offending metal as Kakashi attacked relentlessly, without hesitation and always with pin-point accuracy.

"You've gotten faster Kakashi, but you still can't match my speed," laughed Itachi as he dodged the next attack. Kakashi leapt back and gave a strange smile as he unsheathed his sword.

"Actually I just remembered something," said Kakashi as he started taking out what appeared to be weights. "I got the idea to get faster by doing the same weight training as Gai did with Rock Lee. Of course it was tough at first, but I'm pretty confidant with my speed."

"I don't think a few weights are going to make that much of a differ..," began Itachi, but he stopped as Kakashi threw the weights back, destroying the walls of the building that they collided with. "Now that is….I'm sure that defies some form of logic."

"I'm determined to help my sensei's son, even if I die," replied Kakashi as he cracked his elbows. "I know what causes his pain, the real monsters who want something blame. Really, the only reason I'm bringing him back is to help him achieve his dream, the same dream that has captivated the hearts of others."

"So you believe yourself to be giving Naruto back his innocence," asked Itachi as he cocked one eyebrow.

"No, Naruto is still innocent," replied Kakashi. "It's true he could have just beaten those villagers up instead of killing them, but they would have only become more violent. I cannot blame Naruto for leaving the village that bore him no love, no matter how much he gave love for it. He isn't a monster; in fact he's a hero to everyone living for keeping the Kyuubi inside of him. It was the society that did that brought into that lonely place he is now. When I get back to the village with Naruto, I will make sure he is honored as the hero he is, not to give him back his innocence, but to give Konoha back its innocence. That is why we will pursue him to the ends of the earth."

"How very thoughtful, but you have to beat me," said Itachi as he resumed a sword stance, waiting for his opponent to make the first move.

Kakashi was like a flash, moving here and there without hesitation, putting Itachi to the wall. Itachi parried the sword attacks with one hand while he made a hand seal with his other hands, but Kakashi could see the move coming. He dodged just in time to avoid the katon no jutsu and countering with his a water dragon missile. A hail of shuriken came raining down on Kakashi as soon as he cast the jutsu, but he used a substitution jutsu to escape the hail, meeting Itachi's sword thrust. To Itachi's surprise, the sword went right through Kakashi as his image became distorted and turned to water. Then Kakashi burst out of the puddle punching Itachi in the gut and following up with kick to the face, knocking Itachi back into a tree. Both men were breathing heavily from exhaustion since they had used their sharingan too much.

"Well it looks like you win this time," said Itachi as he slumped down on the tree. "You are the quickest to improve."

"Actually, Naruto exceeds me in that area," laughed Kakashi. "I just use everyone else's approaches in a way that would benefit me."

"Why didn't you kill me instead of using the sharingan to predict my movement," asked Itachi.

"Well I wasn't just sent for Naruto," replied Kakashi as he brought down his headband. "I was also asked by your brother to bring you back. Naruto isn't the other one who isn't blamed for leaving the village. So are you going to come back?"

* * *

Metal collided on metal as the two ninja went at it with as much blood lust as two rival wolves. Shenlong used the length of his blade to keep Sanjuro at a distance, but Sanjuro was too skilled for that, unlike Kisame. It had been a long time since Shenlong's muscles ached like they did then and he knew that he would have to use his true form early in the fight. Sanjuro of course was one who was a reaction fighter; he would never make a move and only react to any attack.

"Well it seems like this fight is just what I need to get the blood flowing," said Shenlong as he took of his sunglasses to reveal his blood red wolf eyes, which had black forming around them slowly. His hair started to grow and his features changed to look more like a werewolf. "You know I didn't have to show this much of my form to Kisame when I killed him so you know I'm getting serious."

"So this is what you've been hiding from us the whole time," said Sanjuro amusedly as he looked at Shenlong's werewolf form. "Now this is a fight."


	14. Beast

Chapter Fourteen: Beast

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.

Author's note: A mistake was made in the last chapter. It is Sanjuro who Orochimaru was in league with not Shenlong. I get them mixed up because they are both like me.

* * *

He looked back at the compound he had once run his operations and felt a twinge of sadness to see it burning in the autumn sky. Pein looked at the pitiful sight of the men he had with him, his army, which had once been more, but the fire and surprise attack by Orochimaru had decimated them to a short number. That would have been the place of his death had he not been warned by Noh, the woman who loved him, but also loved another. The air burned the hair in his nostrils as the ashes of the compound covered the area in a smoke, another depressing sight. Still she was in the back of his mind, like a song that kept playing in the back of his head when he wasn't thinking of something. Did she really not know how much control she had over him or was she just playing him to her tune? Then again, she had asked Orochimaru, not asked begged, Orochimaru to let him know of the attack and to let him get to safety. The trees were covered in black by the ashes, just like the sky, and everything around him looked like death. To his right was one of his most trusted members, Mugen, who was another legendary swordsman who had gone rogue and come into the services of the Akastuki. Mugen was tall, at six inches over six, and had wild black hair that was hanging down his neck in tussles.

"What do we do now sir," asked Mugen, who was probably the only person he could trust if he could trust anyone. "It seems that Sanjuro is in league with Orochimaru and those who were with Shirro are now on Orochimaru's side."

"Don't worry," replied Pein as he looked out into the black sky with his spiral eyes. "Most of those in the group were spies for me, reporting on each plan he came up with. Plus there are more members out there, hopefully some who will reject Orochimaru. Besides, they all pale in comparison to Uzumaki-san."

"But he's only been on his first mission with us," retorted Mugen with his raspy voice. "Most of the others are more experienced than him."

"Experience and power are two different things, Mugen," said Pein as he walked on, not bothering to turn to face him. "That boy has taken on ANBU type missions and has killed more Akastuki members than most of the great villages. I doubt Kakashi could beat him now, since he is more in sync with the Kyuubi than ever."

"But where will he stand, Pein-sama, if Orochimaru offers him a chance to join with him," asked Mugen as he ran to catch up.

"We can only wait and see what happens. It is up to the gods now."

* * *

Shenlong had gotten faster and stronger now that he transformed and he was even catching Sanjuro by surprise, not that Sanjuro minded because he was having the time of his life. The nodachi that Shenlong wielded swept forward in a horizontal flash that Sanjuro had to jump back to avoid. This, however, backed him into a tree so that he was out of room to dodged and if he blocked, he would be put on the defensive, a dangerous place to be since all Shenlong had to do was keep attacking until his defense wore down. Checking his options, Sanjruo decided to use a shadow clone to help on a two on two attack. Shenlong simply swung his sword around, catching the two Sanjuro's off guard and they were too weak to block the attacks. The sword cut through both of them, but all Shenlong was rewarded with was a puff of smoke. _Shit_, thought Shenlong. _He used two shadow clones meaning that he is somewhere nearby._ He would have to wait for Sanjuro to make the attack, a strange turn of events since Sanjuro had only been reacting to attacks. Now that he was switching, Sanjuro would be even more dangerous.

The first attack came in the form of a katon no jutsu, which was easily dodged by Shenlong, but it was followed by a hail of shuriken and kunai. Using his speed and sword, Shenlong deflected each attack, but it left him open to Sanjuro's surprise kick to the side, knocking him to the ground. Regaining his balance by spinning back up, Shenlong took a defensive stance as he waited for the next attack. He knew he didn't have enough time, his of showing his true form was running short. He could only maintain it for so long until he was forced to change back. Pushing the chakra into his feet, Shenlong ran up one of the trees cutting up braches and grabbing them in his hand. He then threw them into the ground in a circle that surrounded them. He then summoned his ravens to grab a few feathers and then charge them with chakra right before he threw them at his opponent. A normal person would have deflected the feathers, but Sanjuro was too cautious and opted to instead, dodged the feathers, which exploded on contact. This, however, did not get him out of hot water as he landed to close to one of the sticks that were stuck into the ground. The sticks set off a chain of explosions that did little damage to Sanjuro, but it gave Shenlong an opening to exploit. The opportunity to take advantage of the blind spot never came because Shenlong's time was up and the limit set on his true form kicked in as he started to transform back into his human form.

"Damn it, now I got nothing," cursed Shenlong with a smile. He was now at Sanjuro's mercy.

"Well should I kill him or should I not kill him," asked Sanjuro to someone Shenlong couldn't see.

"Just give a serious wound and leave it up to fate to see," said a voice that sent a shiver down Shenlong's spine, he knew that voice. It was the one that had haunted his nightmares from the memories of his years of torture. "I would much rather see one of my experiments develop further and he seems to be the best one."

"Yeah I guess your right Orochimaru," replied Sanjuro as he brought his sword down, cutting into Shenlong's chest.


	15. Meeting

Chapter Fifteen: Meeting

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

The wind was blowing ominously over Konoha, especially over the Yondaime's grave, which seemed to be frowning on the town, or at least that's what it looked like for Tsunade. She let out a sigh of depression once she was sure that she was alone. A Hokage had to look tough in times of strife, which was a pain in the ass to Tsunade and she was sure that the other Hokage's before her thought the same thing. It was another day without that hyper active blond running through into her office asking for a tough mission. Those days now seemed so long ago, but she remembered how annoyed she was with the constant loudness that always seemed to be hiding how lonely he felt. She had known that he took women into his bed sometimes, but he never had a long term relationship because they were all hugging to his father's legacy and his fame, never to the man himself. How she hated Konoha, which was odd because she was supposed to be its protector, but now she just wondered why she had taken the job in the first place.

"Naruto," she said aloud, confident that no one could hear her. "I took this job because of that brat, because he gave me hope when I had none left."

He was gone now and already the world seemed a little less bright, but she was confident that Naruto would find himself. She was hoping on that, her most dangerous gamble, because if this was wrong then she had not only sacrificed the lives of so many, but all of Konoha and the other five villages would be just a memory. The more stress or dark thoughts Naruto had would only turn him more into the Kyuubi and he would become the monster the villagers wanted him to be. The very same villagers who had broken him and set him on the road to that path, the path to meifunado, were the people she was supposed to protect. In truth she had only grown to care about them because of how strongly Naruto felt about the village, but now she saw it differently than what she had seen it with Naruto. Hope in the village was dangling by a string. The door opened to reveal one of the people she had expected to see. The man had red hair that spiked back and his face had streaks of green on his cheek as if in a wild way. He was smoking one of his cigarettes, just like Asuma, but this man was an inch taller with a pair of raven-like eyes.

"Renji I would be really thankful if you were to put that cigarette out," said Tsunade trying to take the nice approach that Shizune had recommended her to take. When she saw that it wasn't working she decided to change tactics. "Put it out or I'll make you the leader for Konohamaru's squad."

"You wouldn't would you," asked Renji looking at her incredulously. She only showed a serious look in her eye that made him put his cigarette out on his tongue. "Okay so what did you call me for, Hokage-sama."

"I need a favor of you," she said as he took out a sheet of paper. "I need you to find these people who are believed to be on the Akatsuki's hit list."

"Why," asked Renji. "It's no one we know."

"If we go after them then we are bound to run into the Akatsuki," replied Tsunade.

"So I heard Kakashi's team just returned," said Renji as he leaned against the wall. "Does this mean that they didn't bring back either target?"

"Yes."

* * *

Yuki watched over Shenlong as the medics operated on him, draining the poison from his wounds while trying to patch things up. She was worried for him, more so than the rest of the squad that was there. Kiba and Shino stayed to see if Shenlong would make it, but Hinata had left with Kakashi to give the report and ask for another chance. Neither of the two boys had known Shenlong all that well, but he had tried to save Naruto and that made him a team mate.

"You think he'll make it," asked Kiba, he tried to say it quietly without Yuki hearing it, but her sense of hearing was top notch.

"I'm sure he'll make it," declared Yuki. They could see how much pain she was in seeing her mentor and partner under the medic's knife. "He can't die like this, not Shenlong, he's too tough to be taken down like this."

"How long have you two known each other," asked Shino. He wanted ot know as much as much about Shenlong as possible. "

"Well we've known each other since we found him, me and Gaara-sama," replied Yuki as she looked at the floor. "He was so wild back then, but he seemed so cool."

**FLASHBACK BEGINS**

Yuki followed Gaara as he walked along the road to the Village Hidden in the Mist. She was surprised at how much strength Gaara had to carry around that heavy gourd on his back, but then again, Gaara was a lot stronger then he looked. The road to the Mist village was just like what she expected the village to be, covered in a deep fog that made it hard to see an inch ahead of you. It started to become unnaturally cold and she could tell that death was near; she could sense it in the air. Someone had shed blood and she could smell it in the air, it was a fresh kill. Never in all that time had Yuki thought to tell Gaara because she knew that he already knew there was blood, the scent was all too familiar to him. Each step was as ominous as the last one as they walked slowly, careful not to make any sounds to alert the killer to their presence if he was asleep or had not noticed them.

"Stop," said Gaara very suddenly catching her in mid step. "He knows we're here and he's coming this way."

"What should we do," asked Yuki, very worried about how she would do in a fight with the killer.

"We'll wait and see who it is," replied Gaara in a clear resolve. His voice showed no emotion, just like it always did when he knew there would be trouble.

The killer approached them and they looked, not into the face of a man, but they looked into the face of something that resembled a man, but was more animal than man. He was covered in a mixture of blood and dirt, some of it fresh, but some caking his shirt. His blond hair was wild and unkempt as well as being dirty with blood and dirt. His facial hair was also messy, making him look animal like. He had cuts and scars running across the parts of his body that were exposed through the tears in his shirt and pants. The most striking feature about him was his eyes, how they were devoid of anything human and had taken on the appearance of a beast who knew not who was or where he was going. He probably was just like that, not knowing where to go, just killing until he got to something better.

"Stay back," said Gaara as he approached the man without showing any fear he might have had.

"No wait, Gaara-sama, I know who it is," said Yuki as she ran forward towards the killer. "I know you must be the son of Oda Kuristgane, the Mist jonin whose family was attacked by enemy ninjas. That was so long ago, but you've lived with the pain ever since, I know that it's bound to have an effect on your humanity and sanity. You don't have to kill anyone any more, you don't have to seek revenge for the deaths of your mother and your father."

The man never replied, he just lunged forward at her before he was knocked back by one of Gaata sand fists. The man had been suffering from years of being deprived of sleep and going months without eating or bathing. He smelled like all the dead bodies that he had carved up, but he was still moving fast, not resting. It was bound to happen that exhaustion kicks in to slow the movements down. Enough so that Gaara didn't have to use much to render him defenseless. He was about to deliver the final blow when Yuki jumped in front of the attack, which was stopped in time to spare Yuki a painful death. The man was confused at why someone would risk their life to save him, but he still would have sued her body as a shield, were he able to move. Instinct was driving him, but slowly a new set of thoughts were being put into place.

"Don't you think it's time to let your mother and father rest in peace," she asked as she looked at the two tombstones that the killer was sitting next to. "What is your name if you can remember it?"

"Shenlong," he replied in a weak raspy voice. His muscles ached and his eyelids were getting heavier.

**FLASHBACK ENDS**

"Hey wait a second something seems to be going wrong," shouted Kiba as he looked at the medics scrambling to help Shenlong. They were in a panic and the heart rate was getting fainter and fainter then finally it went flat.


	16. What Happened?

Chapter 16: What Happened?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters of Naruto.

* * *

The room, though very large, seemed very small and confined when filled with the members of the Akatsuki that made up the elite class. Pain, leader of the Akatsuki, looked intently at Naruto, Itachi, and Tobi, the only three to come back from the unsuccessful mission to take over a country. It would have been successful had it not been for other factors in the mission that came from within the Akatsuki. Pein ran a hand through his spiky brown hair and looked at the three elites. The room was part of an inn that was owned by Pein just in case they needed a safe house. It was done in a traditional Japanese design with sliding paper doors that had pictures of birds and trees on them. On the walls were water painting of tigers and dragons or that would have been the type of pictures to decorate the wall, but Pein had made sure to have his room given custom painted paintings depicting demons from hell.

"So if I am to understand that Orochimaru is alive and well despite your claim to have burned his soul with your bare hands," asked Pein as he rubbed his temples.

"It would appear so Pein-sama," replied Naruto without bowing despite sounding polite in his answer. "I have heard of a way to split the soul into different pieces so that if one is destroyed, the other can take its place. I believe that Orochimaru has done this."

"It does sound like something he would do," admitted Mugen before he was silenced by Pein's hand. "And you also say that Sanjuro was working with Orochimaru?"

"Yes, he made that immediately clear when he went off with him after delivering a fatal blow to the suna jonin, Shenlong," replied Naruto, who seemed bored at having to explain things again. "Though I don't think that Shenlong is necessarily dead, he was probably healed by Tsunade-sama."

"You said the wound was fatal," shouted Mugen as if he was a dog by Pein's side to bark at any threats towards his master.

"Down boy," retorted Naruto. "Just because I say a wound is fatal doesn't mean I said he died from it. You should never doubt Tsunade-sama, she saved my life from fatal wounds a number of times."

"Yes, but still, the wound did look very terrible to me," said Itachi, finally speaking for the first time since the meeting had started.

"Ah yes, Itachi, you were apparently about to be captured by Kakashi," said Pein. "If it wasn't for Naruto, you would be in the hands of Konoha. I thought you said you could handle Kakashi easily?"

"Well it would appear that Kakahsi has gotten stronger than the last time we fought," replied Itachi as he looked unaffected by the questioning, but inside he was embarrassed by being proven wrong. "When I told you those words, I was able to handle Kakashi easily, but he obviously got stronger than me over the time and has even learned to use the mangakyou or a different form than mine."

"Well this is all troubling news to hear Itachi," said Pein as he looked at the Uchiha. "Well it seems like there is no need to keep either of you here for long so why don't we convene the meeting until another time when we can propose how to deal with the latest threat to this organization."

"I'd like to add one more thing," said Naruto. "When I saw Sanjuro going off I noticed that there was a woman with him, a woman with dark blue hair and she was wearing an Akatsuki cloak. It looked like the two were lovers because I saw her kissing him with affection."

"You wouldn't have happened to get a name or heard him call her something," asked Pein.

"Yes I believe he called her Noh-chan," replied Naruto.

"Thank you for the information," said Pein. "Do you have anything else to say?"

"Yes, I was just thinking that we could use someone whose been with Orochimaru to know about the sound villages many labs and complexes," said Naruto.

"Oh so you want Anko," asked Pein with a bit of amusement, he had heard about her and her beauty, but he also knew that she had a sadistic streak in her just like Orochimaru.

"No," replied Naruto. "I think we should get the one who these eyes used to belong to."

* * *

"Well it would seem that Naruto is more powerful than we thought if he was able to transform his eyes into the mangekyou just like you did," said Renji as he looked at the report.

"They weren't like my eyes though," replied Kakashi sadly. "They were just like Itachi's eyes and those can only be achieved by killing someone close to you."

"What are you getting at Kakashi-sempai," asked Hinata as she looked at him with anger.

"Iruka was killed by a sword that doesn't match Shenlong's wounds so that rules out Sanjuro," replied Kakaashi as he let his head droop down to the floor and just by looking at the one eye he didn't cover, they could tell that he was hurt. "Itachi was fighting me so he couldn't have done it and Anko and Shenji took care of Tobi easily. There is only one other person who could have done it."

"Are you suggesting that Naruto killed the closest thing he had to a father," asked Tsunade as she looked at Kakashi dangerously. She had become overprotective of Naruto as if she were his mother or grandmother with her age.

"It's possible and he's also the most likely person to have done it," said Kakashi. "Naruto wanted to break his ties with Konoha since he blames himself for Rock Lee's death and he showed us that he wasn't afraid to hurt those close to him. I think that the anger and the Kyuubi is now influencing him, making him a cold and emotionless killer."

"You can't honestly believe that he is capable of doing something like that," asked Shizune, who was standing right next to her mistress.

"It's not that he is intentionally doing anything," said Hinata as she looked up finally. "I'm not afraid to admit that everything seems to point to Naruto being Iruka's murderer, but I don't think it was purely intentional, just like he didn't intentionally kill Rock Lee. Maybe Iruka fought him and Naruto had to kill him in self defense or it happened accidently."

"Just like he accidently stole the Sharingan from that Uchiha boy," asked Renji who was just about to light a cigarette when he saw Tsunade's death glare. "Anyway, he might be doing this intentionally, but it doesn't mean that everything is hopeless for Naruto. The one thing that we know for sure is that Naruto reached his breaking point when he couldn't hide himself away from how cruel the village was treating him. That makes him very violent and right now he's waiting for a reason to return to Konoha or deciding on what terms to come back. "

"What exactly is your suggestion," asked Kakashi as he looked at Renji curiously. The one thing that was known about the man was that he was involved in a lot of things and had been the inventor of many jutsus that were put on the forbidden jutsu list. He was also, the second most perverted man in Konoha besides Jiraiya, which had earned him a reputation for being known as "Sin."

"Well right now it seems that we need to remind Naruto what's good about Konoha," said Renji. "From where I'm looking at things, we aren't a threat to the Akatsuki or weren't a threat until now, but we have witnessed the return of a common enemy. I myself will be going to protect vessels of known demons, but another thing we also need to protect is all those connected to Orochimaru except for Anko."

"Why not Anko," asked Kakashi. "She was with Orochimaru for some time when he was building his many complexes."

"But even he made some corrections to his complexes and made new ones that Anko doesn't know about," answered Tsunade, who knew where Renji was going with all of this. "He would need someone who has been in current contact with Orochimaru and the sound village, someone like Sasuke."

"No, he may think that at first, but there is one person we can count on to stand up for him," said Renji. "No doubt his brother will speak on Sasuke's behalf and even then, we protect him and he wouldn't risk coming back here. What he would go for though would be the ones who were with Sasuke when he chased after Itachi."

"His group has been split up though," said Kakashi as he looked out the window. It was raining again; just like it always seemed to do when someone had died or something tragic had happened. It seemed to be raining more and more in Konoha lately.

"They didn't leave earth though," said Renji. "One of them has psychotic urges and won't be too inconspicuous. The others are probably in Konoha right now to try and get back their leader, but we haven't found them yet."

"So I guess we have decide who does what," said Tsunade as she thought about how much work that would take and she hadn't even started on the daily monument of paperwork. Her headache was coming back again, it was like a parasite that wouldn't let go, but she was the one who chose this life so she had no one to blame but herself.

* * *

He walked down into the small canoe that would take him across the river, whose waters were darkened by the darkness of night. Not bothering to light a torch to see his way, he started rowing towards the other side; he had been that way before way. He had wavy auburn hair that moved in the wind, making it look like he had a river on his head. He had a scar over his right eye and his right eye was actually a glass eye that was made to look like a vulture's eyes. On his neck there was a strange marking that looked like an insignia of a clan or family, but it was surrounded by tattoos of a dragons and demons. The man wore a torn grey shirt over fishnets with black pants and black leather boots. He looked like someone from a metal band. The rowing to the other side took about sixty minutes, sixty minutes of him having to listen to the sounds of the bats fluttering around in the cave as they hunted for food. He hated coming here, but he had no choice, he had to obey the call. When he finally reached the shore, he was greeted by the same servant boy that always greeted him, everything was just routine.

"The master is waiting for you," said the boy as he parted the curtains to reveal the chamber that was filled to the rim with weapons.

"I'm sorry I'm late," said the man as he walked in.

"One of these days you might actually mean it," replied the man who sat on a red pillow. He had long black hair that covered half of his face, his pale, snake-like face. Those eyes always troubled him for some reason. "Well come on if Matsumoto."

"I stayed behind to check on Shenlong's condition as you had asked," said Matsumoto as he sat down bored. He noticed the other man who was wearing a white kimono with the symbol for evil on his back. Next to him was a women with dark blue hair and a slender figure serving him Sake.

"Well, how is he," asked Orochimaru as he started looking over something in a scroll.

"Shenlong departed this world over three hours ago," announced Matsumoto.

"Oh, did he now," asked Orochimaru looking up from the scroll with eyes that showed he was interested. "I want to hear every detail you have about his death."


	17. Broken Peace

Chapter 17: Broken Peace

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters of Naruto.

* * *

Loneliness, that old bastard was always on his chest, on his mind, on his heart, and on the deepest darkest part of his soul. Naruto had moments when he felt like he couldn't breathe, but he still went on through his life until he would find someone, hopefully he could find some way to get Hinata. The thought was a cruel joke that Naruto played on himself by entertaining the idea that he would find some way to be with Hinata, but still it was the back of his mind. She was in the back of his mind. The service for the room was excellent, the food was plenty and he had all the sake he could drink to forget his pain. The room was adorned with pictures of women dressed in very echii ways, some naked and some with their kimono's hanging loosely on their bodies. Naruto imagined that it was what Jiraiya's room looked like, if he had a home.

"Bet ero-sennin's room is adorned with his 'Research,'" laughed Naruto as he fished into his coat and took out the book he had brought with him. "I have got to stop thinking about Konoha, I gave that place up for here and I think I may grow to like this place."

At first he was doing it to get his former perverted sensei out of his mind, but then others started to pop into his mind, one after the other. He would end the trails of thought, but it would always end with her, the woman he had realized that he loved. He had felt bad about abandoning his other friends, but she was the one who made him question why he had joined the Akatsuki. It was because of the way he was treated by the villagers, but still he had friends and the villagers weren't acting that way anymore. It didn't matter anyway, he was so far past that line of no return and he had to change. His whole world was coming apart and he had to change, maybe he could have done some things differently, but he couldn't feel any remorse for what he did. The thoughts in his mind would have brought her name back into his consciousness had there not been a knock at the door.

"Yes, who is it," asked Naruto as he got up off his bed and put away his sake bottle.

"It's me," said an all familiar voice from the other side.

"You can come in," said Naruto as he started to look out of the window. "So are we needed for anything, Itachi?"

"Yeah, our target is a vessel for three tailed wolf demon," replied Itachi in the same voice that held no emotion at all. "We're going to be leaving tomorrow so you might want to prepare. Also, if you ever desire the company of some women, just call and ask room service to send one down."

"Thanks for the tip," said Naruto as he waved Itachi away. He went back to wondering why he was thinking about her so much and he forgot all about the special service.

* * *

"So what type of missions are you going to be sending us on," asked Hinata as she looked at Tsunade, who still had a piece of paper stuck to her forehead. No one had taken notice because there were more pressing matters at hand, like what to tell Gaara and what to do now.

"Your mission is to track down the ninja that were in Sasuke's band of rogue sound ninja," replied Tsunade as she removed the paper after Shizune whispered in her ear. "The team will consist of yourself, Kakashi, Shinji, Anko, Yuki, and Sasuke."

"Is Sasuke or Yuki well enough for this mission," asked Hinata in shock that she would put those two on a mission that was potentially dangerous. "Sasuke doesn't have his Sharingan anymore and he just came out of a coma. Yuki has just seen one of the people closest to her die and she should be coping with the loss, not sending her into a situation where she could let her rage run wild."

"I know you are concerned with her wellbeing, but I am sure that Yuki is strong enough to keep any rage she has in check," said Tsunade as she waved Hinata's suggestion away. "If I were to worry about Yuki then I would have to have worried about you when I sent you. If you can make I think she can."

"Is that a statement about my emotional weakness," asked Hinata as anger slowly crept in her voice. "Would that be the reason why I was Naruto was dead and not the truth?!"

"That was a decision we made underestimating you based on how I would feel," replied Tsunade as she looked out the window. "I remembered how I felt when I lost Dan, but that was a different loss. I thought it would have been worse to have been betrayed by him, but now I can see that since you can bring him back, the pain is not as bad as one would think. I'm sorry for causing you more pain with my decision and your ability to take the extra amount of pain shows me that Yuki can handle herself well."

* * *

"I'm only going to ask you one more time," warned Gaara as he looked dangerously at the man he was holding up by his left foot with sand. "Where are the safe houses for the Akatsuki located?"

"All the ones I know of where taken over," replied the frighten man. "I don't know much, just that the Akatsuki had some power struggle only a few days ago and a lot of the safe houses were destroyed by the reemergence of the sound village. The leader and the rest of his members are hiding out somewhere that I don't know about."

"Who is leading the sound village now," asked Gaara as he crossed his arms to flex his muscles in a threat.

"Orochimaru," replied the man as he looked down at the long drop that he would have to take if he displeased Gaara, but then again, it was hard to find someone who didn't know about his sand coffin. "He appears to be back in the land of the living and he's taken back most of the sound village. The part no taken over is slowly crumbling its way back into his infrastructure."

"I see," said Gaara, he had the sand toss the man back onto the concrete as Gaara walked past all of the dead bodies that were lying on the floor with grains of sand covering them. He noticed that a tall man was standing right next to Kankuro and Temari. He was wearing dark sunglasses and Gaara recognized his face.

"He was sent with a man named Renji to help us try and protect some of the other vessels," said Kankuro as pointed to the tall man in sunglasses and then at another man with red hair that spiked back.

"Well then shall we get moving," asked Temari in her cheerful voice as she walked ahead of the rest.

The man with sunglasses lit a cigarette and said, "Hell, it's about damn time."

* * *

The two men walked towards the city with no visable weapons, but the guards weren't about to let their guard down. They were armed with the sabers of elite guards and they were sent to protect their vessel from the Akatsuki members that they had known were coming ahead of time by a letter from Konoha. One of the two men had dark black hair and looked as ominous as death, while the other one would have looked like a cheerful person who was very friendly, if he smiled, but all he had on his face was a mask of no emotion. Both wore the Akatsuki cloaks, but the blond haired one had on something underneath. A jacket that was orange and black and orange pants. 


	18. Doomed Lovers

Chapter 18: Doomed Lovers

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters of Naruto.

The men all seemed to be nervous of the two Akatsuki members that they had surrounded, but the surrounded men seemed to be cool and composed as if this weren't an uncommon sight for them. The tall, dark haired man seemed the most likely candidate for being dangerous, but the other man, the blonde haired man, didn't look at all dangerous. Most of the guards had blue vests on with white stripes to show their rank as elite guards, while others had red vests to show their standing as captains. One man had on a black vest and black pants to show some form of leadership among the group. The total number of them was forty, but inside the city there could have a hundred more men. The guards were armed with sabers, which for the most part weren't the best sword because of how flimsy and mass produced it was.

"Well it seems like you right in telling me I wouldn't need my sword, Itachi," said the blonde haired man as he pulled out a kunai from under his cloak.

"The target is inside the city so let's waste time out here," said the man known as Itachi. "Let's push forward Naruto."

"Right," replied Naruto as he did the necessary hand signs for a katon no jutsu. Instead of coming out in a regular fire, the jutsu blew out in a scatter direction, burning with a blue flame.

"What did you do differently," asked Itachi who had seen Naruto's hand signs, but could find no deviation in the regular katon no jutsu hand sign.

"My Kyuubi is a fox so naturally I get a fox fire," replied Naruto as he waited for the smoke to clear to see how many were left, but the guards weren't going to take it lying down. They rushed at Naruto to try and stop him from casting another jutsu, but it was Itachi's turn to cast a jutsu. Moving quickly, Itachi used his kunai to kill most of the front guard then sent a hail of shuriken after the second wave of guards. The third guards fell to Naruto's wind release jutsu.

Anko wrapped her arms around her silver haired lover as she lay next to him, taking in the intoxicating aroma of his scent. It pained her to see him like this, with a miserable look on his face, the same look he got whenever he went to visit Obito's grave, that look like he had killed a friend or had caused his death. Anko knew that feeling, she felt it right after the Sandaime died, and she felt after the old man was killed by Orochimaru, her former teacher and the man who had stolen her virginity. Time after time, she would wonder if she hadn't given herself up to him in the first place, all she could remember was how painful it was. Anko put her finger on Kakashi's chest and traced the large scar he had on it down to his stomach. She remembered where that one had come from.

**FLASHBACK BEGINS**

The forest was a thing of beauty, something that you take your time to walk through instead of rushing through it, but neither Anko nor Kakashi had any time on their hands. They were on the run from rogue rock ninja who acted as mercenaries for the sound village and the two jonin were sent in to observe their camp and report on their numbers. It had been so simple a mission if the other leaf jonin sent in wasn't secretly an informant for sound village. During the night the informant gave away their position to the enemy and the two jonin were surrounded. Using an earth style dragon missile jutsu to cause a gap in enemy lines and they made a break for it. Now they were running from the rock ninja with the informant trailing behind and throwing shuriken.

"I am so tired of that back stabbing son of a bitch," shouted Anko in rage, which Kakashi always loved because he thought she grew more beautiful when she was angry. They had been going out for four months, without the village knowing of course, they didn't want people gossiping about the hot new couple of Konoha. Shino and Ino had already experienced that firsthand and they didn't want the same thing happening to them.

"Well we can't stop to throw anything until we're backed into a corner," said Kakashi with a smile, he sometimes got her angry because of his addiction to angry sex. "Besides I'm waiting till we get to the lake, then I can show them a few tricks I picked up from an old friend."

"Since was Zabuza an old friend," asked Anko with a raised eyebrow and something that could pass as a smile.

"Well I guess in the end you could say that all our differences were put aside for the more pressing matter," replied Kakashi as he remembered Zabuza tearing through all those bodyguards despite having lost the use in both arms. They would have died had Zabuza not done that, but he had done it for Haku, the boy who was like a son to him and the boy that had taken the chidori that was meant for Zabuza.

It was a long run, but they finally made it to the lake and Kakashi was already performing hand signs at top speed, summoning up a water dragon jutsu. It knocked out half of the rock ninja and all the ones that were hit by it were hit by Anko's hail of shuriken. The next half ran straight for Kakashi to stop him from getting off another jutsu, but Anko called upon the snakes to stab into three of the rock ninja, but the other half got away. Deciding that both of them were just as dangerous as the other, they split up and attacked both ninja simultaneously. Kakashi used water clones to distract the rock ninja while he did a water fall jutsu. Anko, using her snakes again, herded the rock ninja to Kakashi's rock ninja so they would also be taken out by the waterfall jutsu. The two looked at their accomplishment as they had just wiped out the rock ninja mercenaries single handedly. They stared at each and then moved closer as Anko closed her eyes for Kakashi to kiss her, she had become accustomed to being blind folded since it made Kakashi more mysterious and by default sexier, but she didn't feel his lips. She felt his hands pushing her out of the way of the informant's demon windmill attack, which Kakashi took in the chest.

"Kakashi," shouted Anko, as he fell back into the lake, sinking with blood spurting from his wound. She used her snakes to surround the man and as soon as they had wrapped around him tightly, she cut him apart with her kunai.

Kakashi rose from the surface, pulling himself out, blood still pouring from his wound and staining his green vest, but Kakashi couldn't complain. It was no secret that Kakashi hated wearing the damn thing, but now he could ask for one of the new black vests that he had always had his eye on if he wasn't going back to ANBU. He looked up at Anko and smiled through his mask, but he couldn't help but notice that she didn't look like that. Tears formed in her eyes as she ran to hug him, glad that the best thing in her life besides sweets and her friends was alive.

"Why did you have to do that for me Kakashi," asked Anko as tears fell down her cheeks making her look lady like. "Why do you have to risk your life for me?"

"I love you Anko-chan," replied Kakashi as everything started to go blank.

**FLASHBACK ENDS**

"I'm glad you didn't die, porn freak," said Anko as she kissed his scar causing Kakashi to smile a bit, something he hadn't done since they had gotten back.

"So am I, sweets slave," replied Kakashi as he ran his hand through her hair.

* * *

The two men walked into the bar, one carrying something large wrapped up in cloth as he set down at one of the stools. First one had to make a call so he went to where he thought the pay phone was, only to find out that the shit hole didn't even have that modern convenience. The bar was smelled of whiskey, blood, piss, and smoke. A smell that was all too familiar with the man, but he still didn't like smelling it, the acrid smell of a bar in the middle of a shitty town. Renji wished he was back in Tanzaku, in one of his usual hostess bars which made him feel right at home being in the arms of a beautiful woman with sake near him. Renji left the man he was travelling with, who was ordering a drink, to go outside in order to find that pay phone and locate the man he wanted to find. Now he was wishing he hadn't split up with Gaara because Gaara was probably having a better time heading back to Konoha to meet with the Hokage. Renji looked out saw a pay phone, but right next to it were two ugly looking homeless guys with bats. He hated pay phones and he hated this town. After beating them up, Renji put in a few of his quarters and dialed the phone number. What he got was the answering machine.

"Yes the number you have dialed is currently out of service," said the voice. "Hey maybe if he paid his _fucking _phone bill you could call him back. Ha, just joking I'm not in yet so leave a message."

Renji didn't leave a message instead he walked back into the bar and saw the man he was travelling with already beating up a few of the guys, not even using the object he had wrapped up.

"Hey, yo, S-," started Renji but he was silenced by Renji's gesture for him to stop.

"The name is Sado, that other name is a different man," said the man with sunglasses. "That man is dead and I am alive."

"Fine, _Sado, _we've got to go the apartment and check it out," said Renji, a bit pissed off at how complicated things were.

"Okay," said the man as he picked up the object and walked towards Renji, running his hand through his short blonde hair. He reached into his leather pants and came out with a wallet. He payed the bar tender and walked out into the cold night.

* * *

"Neiji-san do you think we should be doing this," asked Tenten as she looked at Neiji, who was packing kunai and shuriken into their respective patches both, a determined look on his face. "This would be going against the Hokage's orders, the Hyuuga clan's orders, and it would be going against the rest of our friends."

"We have to avenge them though," said Neiji as he looked at their old team picture with him, Tenten, Rock Lee and the man you would swear his his father, Maito Gai. Those were the good old days, the days before they were split apart and put into separate feels. Neiji got to stay with Tenten, but the other two were in different fields and they had stoppe seeing alot of each other. Neiji regretted this and had planned to reconcile what he felt was his error, but before he could, Naruto left the village and Lee followed. Lee followed his death. "I will get revenge for the two."

"But trusting ROOT is a bit risky," said Tenten as she tried to get in front of Neiji to prevent him from not looking at her when she talked. "You don't think they might be suing us to try and take over Konoha just by having us kill one of it's strongest."

"He left," replied Neiji. "He is now a threat and I will kill Naruto."


	19. Secret

Chapter 19: Secret

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters of Naruto.

* * *

The two men walked through the city at a regular Sunday stroll pace, making it seem like they had nothing to worry about. Around them was chaos and destruction, the things they had cause, the things they had destroyed, it was a world of their making. It wasn't beautiful, but it was still something they had made. Now they were unchallenged as the city guards were all scattered, either dead or too frightened to attack the two men as they made their way to the palace gates. The gates were covered with golden figure depicting the founding of the city and in the center of the mural was the Jade seal of the ruler. Naruto admired the glow of the jade as the sun hit it, but he didn't have time to be admiring art, there was work to be done. Smoke rose up from the outside city and people hid in their homes, but this part was untouched by the chaos that had ensued. It wouldn't remain that way for long.

* * *

Renji looked at the house that the person he was supposed to meet lived in and he had that same question that he always had when he set his eyes upon the house. _Why live in this piece of crap?_ He knew a lot about the person he was coming to see, but right now it seemed to be like Ishida was an enigma that he could never figure out. Ishida lived with his sister, who was very beautiful and innocent, the worst kind of person to be living in a shit hole of a town like that, but she seemed to keep her innocence. It most likely had to do with a time when a guy tried taking her innocence and Renji wound up breaking every bone in his legs and arm. Her name was Mikoto, but Renji felt it lacked the amount of beauty that she obtained. Her brown hair hung down past her shoulders and swayed gracefully in the wind, so gracefully that it could take a man's breath away. Her eyes were another interesting thing about her. The right eye was gold, but her left eye was silver. She was average height, but sometimes she when she was shy she seemed to shrink back and looked like a little child. It was so cute.

"So this is where he lives," said Sado as he looked at the windows. "Why live in this shit hole?"

"That's the same thing I wonder every time I come here," replied Renji as he put out his cigarette. "I wonder why he even lets his sister live in this shit hole. I mean she looks so innocent, too innocent for this shit hole."

"You said that no one answered the phone," asked Sado as he took a look around. The front lawn was never mowed and the vines on the trees were hanging low making the front lawn look like it was the rain forest.

"Yeah, what's the point," asked Renji as he cocked his eyebrow and was about to light another cigarette, but remembered that she didn't like smoking.

"Does his sister have a job or a reason to go outside of the house," asked Sado.

"She always leaves with him and they always travel by car," replied Renji annoyed at the sudden questions. "What are you getting at?"

"The car's still here," replied Sado as he pointed to the same broke ass car that was covered in vines. Panic shot down into Renji's insides as he ran to the front door knocking it down as he jumped inside.

The first thing he met was a sword that was pointed to his face as he saw Ishida and his sister being held hostage by another man with a sickle and chain. Renji was kicking himself mentally at being so stupid to rush in and get himself caught. The man was going to motion for him to move to the others, but a needle struck him right in the neck. The other man was going to strike at Renji, but sand shot up and wrapped around him, crushing his entire body.

"First rule of ninja, never rush into something," said Sado as he walked into the room and took the needle out of the neck. "You were lucky that I was here, Renji, remember that next time."

"Ah, Shenlong it's a good thing that you came," said Ishida as he got up from the couch he was previously forced to sit on.

"You know each other," asked Renji as he looked curiously at the suna hunter, who was taking his glasses off, revealing red wolf-like eyes.

"You could say that," replied Sado, who was really named Shenlong.

* * *

Hinata knocked on Yuki's door to check in on her and see how she was doing since she had just lost someone who was very precious to her. Memories of how she felt when she thought Naruto was dead, the pain it had caused her from believing that she would never she his face again. In a way, Hinata was looking out for Yuki when she questioned Tsunade's judgment, but she her thoughts were the same as the way they told her a lie because they didn't think she could handle the truth. Yuki answered the door and Hinata was shocked to find that some of her hair was disheveled and though she wasn't crying, her eyes were red with tears.

"Yes Hinata-san, am I needed," asked Yuki in a serious tone. Her voice before was never serious, but Hinata could guess why her voice was like that.

"I wanted to see how you were doing," said Hinata as she looked Yuki in the eyes. "Maybe you need some company to deal with the loss? I did when they told me Naruto-kun was dead?"

"Yeah," admitted Yuki. "I think I might need some with Shenlong being dead and all. I just can't believe that he's actually gone, killed by someone."

"I know the feeling," said Hinata. Just as she was about to answer there was the sound of running feet and a girl, about Hinata's age (18), was running towards them with tears in her eyes.

"It can't be true, Yuki sensei, it just can't be," cried the girl as she ran to the doorway and hugged Yuki. The girl had on a suna headband and was followed by a small wolf.

"I'm afraid it is," replied Yuki as she hugged the girl. "Shenlong is dead."

"No, Shenlong sensei can't be dead, no one can kill him," cried the girl.

"I'm sorry for your loss," said Hinata as she bowed to the two suna ninja's. "I wish I could have helped you or him in some manner."

"It's not your fault," replied Yuki as she put on a smile, one that was also full of pain. "This is Shenlong's student, her name is Neko. She was like a daughter to Shenlong, he even gave her Susanoo, one of the wolves in his pack."

"I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances," said Hinata as she bowed to the suna girl.

"It's okay," replied Neko as she wiped her tears. "Shenlong sensei would want me to be strong and I have to be strong if I want to avenge his death."

"That's right," said Yuki as she smiled a little more. The thought of revenge made Hinata wonder about another person, her cousin, Neiji. Would he want revenge for Rock Lee and if so, who would he seek it from?

* * *

Neiji sat near the fire that Tenten started as he pondered what he was doing. Was going after Naruto really what he should be doing? Could he really blame it all on Naruto? Those thoughts always made him soft and he would have to reinforce his hate for Naruto, less his blade be dulled by second thoughts. He was just sitting there next to the fire, meditating as his mind played around with the ideas of revenge. This worried Tenten, who had come to develop strong feelings towards Neiji, and she cooked dinner while wondering if she should try to talk to him or not. There were so many things she wanted to do, but she held back from doing not knowing how he would react to her doing those things. She wanted to wrap her arms around him, but she held herself back.

"The stars are bright tonight," said Neiji, breaking the silence that was driving Tenten crazy.

"Yes they are," replied Tenten with a smile. It was good that he was talking again.

"Tenten, can I ask you something," asked Neiji as his face took on a troubled look.

"Yes, what is it," asked Tenten as she looked at the ground blushing.

"Why did you come along with me if you had your doubts?"

"Well it is true that Naruto did wound Lee, I still didn't think Naruto was to blame for Lee's death. The same for Gai sensei, both deaths were caused by the man named Sanjuro and I was hoping that you were referring to him when you talked about getting your revenge. When you told me it was Naruto I had my doubts about doing this, but I chose to help you because I will always support you Neiji. When everyone else is gone, you can count on me to be by your side to help you and cheer you on."

"Thank you Tenten," replied Neiji with a smile as he looked at her. "While it is true that Lee's death was not by the hands of Naruto, I am still determined to prevent him from becoming more of a threat. I know what lurks inside of him and I must stop it from taking control. That is Hiashi-sama's last wish."

"So killing Naruto is an order from your uncle," asked Tenten. She saw the nod from Neiji and she started to wonder if Hiashi knew this would happen and made sure it would be stopped before his death. "What about Hinata, won't she be devastated that Naruto is dead?"

"I must now act for the good of a lot more people than Hinata-san," said Neiji. "I will have to send many of my apologies when Naruto is dead and hope that she sees how doomed the boy was."


	20. Next Target

Chapter 20: Next Target

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters of Naruto.

* * *

The room was dark and shady, but it didn't matter much to Naruto since his only concern was finding the girl with the three tailed wolf spirit. The rooms were most of the same official decoration with tapestries and the same pictures of the glorious ruler of the city, who was suffering from a nightmare of Naruto's creation. He somehow felt good putting people through suffering, probably because of how he suffered during his life. Naruto stopped himself and checked his thoughts; he shouldn't be thinking that since the ruler had only got in his way trying to protect someone. The man wasn't one of those villagers who were trying to kill him as a small child, but still Naruto felt good when he made someone hurt. It was when he realized this that he smelled something, the smell of dried blood and death, like a corpse that had died sometime ago.

"How far are you falling down there," asked Iruka. He was standing on the other side of the room with dried blood on his vest. Naruto rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing things correctly. "I never thought you'd actually do the things you're doing Naruto. You've changed so much."

"Iruka sensei, I know I've changed from that hyperactive kid who dreamed of becoming Hokage," replied Naruto as he stood and looked at Iruka, talking in his unapologetic manner. "I had to, if I didn't change I would have died from at the hands of the villagers and Sakura. Did you want me to die there or something?"

"No, but you changed too much," said Iruka as he came into the light to reveal his pale face that looked like it was decaying. "You didn't have to do all of this, I mean you could have passed off as self defense."

"I could have, but then what about the other villagers," asked Naruto, annoyed at his sensei naïve manner of thinking, as if he didn't know the whole situation. "Don't you think that they would be jumping on the 'fuck Naruto' bandwagon?"

"Don't you remember how old those villagers were Naruto," asked Iruka as he took a step forward to Naruto, the smell of death and blood coming closer and stronger. "That generation that looked at you like that is soon to be extinct and the younger generation will view you like they always have, like you should be viewed, as the hero of Konoha. You just saw the bad of the village because you were used to it."

"You can drop the act now little girl," said Naruto as he sighed and waved Iruka's ghost away. "These simple tricks aren't going to work I'm afraid. Sorry, but this is the end for you little girl."

The girl, who was probably two years younger than Naruto, came out surrounded by chakra into her wolf form and leapt at Naruto to tear him apart. It was fast, but it never came close to hitting Naruto, who simply used one of the Kyuubi's fireballs to knock the wolf back. He then summoned a shadow clone and surrounded it with the chakra of a two tailed demon. Finding a chair in the corner of the room, Naruto just watched and waited for the opportune moment, when he would end the fight. Until then, the shadow clone could wear the wolf down with its tails and chakra blasts. Then there was a huge blast and the shadow clone was gone, leaving only the wolf standing. Naruto sighed as he got up, this girl was being a real pain in the ass by not going down, but then again he was probably having the same effect since he was sent to kidnap her and force her to participate in a ritual that would kill her.

"Well, you know what, maybe we don't have to do this," said Naruto preferring to take the easy route out of things. "You could join us like I did, I've got a spirit inside of me to and I can understand how shitty this whole situation is. Look, I've got the nine tailed fox demon, the only nine tailed demon on our physical plain, so as you can see the other option of fighting me would just make one thing lead to another and you wind up proper fucked."

"Even if I might die from this I must try and stop your plans from coming to fruition," replied the girl as she pulled out a demon windmill shuriken and threw it at Naruto. The shuriken was easily dodged and the girl was easily knocked out and dragged out of the building. Naruto didn't give second chances after the offer had been rejected the first time.

* * *

"So your village was attacked by Orochimaru when he was on the run," asked Hinata as she looked at the student of the late suna hunter, Shenlong.

"Yep, my village was taken by surprise and we had just gotten wind of the information concerning Orochimaru's departure when he tore through there," said Neko as she looked at her mug of hot chocolate. "I was taken in by suna and spent most of my life in fear of Gaara-sama like everyone else, even when he was being softer than before. It was so amazing that he chose Shenlong to be my teacher when I had become a genin, but you could say that I had mixed feelings on whether it was a blessing or not."

"Was he a difficult teacher," asked Hinata.

"Not after you got past the constant running laps that he forced us to do to build up stamina," replied Neko with a smile, but then she added, "or when he was hung over from one of his all night gambling and drinking competitions with Tsunade-sama. Also he was one of the bossiest men I have ever heard, telling me how to do things to the letter and if not, I would have to clean the dojo after one of his spars with Gaara-sama. Do you have any idea how much destruction those two can cause in just an hour? It was so hard trying to get that thing as clean as he wanted it and he would always supervise. Then we had our own sparring matches which he used to get free meals by betting to take me to all you can eat barbeque. I'm a sucker for those things, thinking that I'll be winning, but he is always one step ahead of me, unless he angers me. Sometimes Yuki sensei joins in, but even still he is hard to beat, especially in his true form."

Hinata shuddered at the memory of his true form. "So he gambles with Tsunade-sama," asked Hinata a bit curious and at an attempt to strike up some good humor.

"Oh my god like you wouldn't believe," said Neko in frustration as she rubbed her temples. "He only takes responsibility for my actions when Tsunade bet's him to come and get me after I pull a prank. Oh dear god, you wouldn't believe how much of a pro Tsunade acts when she's around him. I've had these suspicions that he might be having an affair with her while he was dating Yuki, but I found out that Tsunade-sama has actually gotten a lot better at poker, but she still sucks at strip poker."

"They played strip poker," asked Yuki and Hinata at the same time with the same wide eyed expressions.

"Yep," replied Neko with a smile. "I tried to join them sometimes, but they only let me participate a year ago. I guess now me and Tsunade-sama need to find another strip poker partner."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will find someone," said Yuki. "And next time I think I will join you."

"Oh thank you, Yuki sensei, it's no fun with only two people, but I wish we could get more guys," said Neko so fast that it left the two women confused as to what was just said.

"Actually I think I know at least one guy who would be interested," said Hinata as a certain dog lover popped in her mind.

* * *

Shenlong took his time as he sharpened his sword to perfection, taking in all the disadvantages of doing it a certain way. He could Renji pulling out another cigarette and lighting it as he listened to what the man had to say. Ishida had black hair that contrasted his brown haired sister and his skin was paler, making him look like some vampire from a novel. His dark rimmed glasses reflected all light so if there was a light you could never see his eyes. Most of the information was nothing they couldn't get from checking Tsunade's records of all spirit vessels, but that's how all difficult things started in his life. You first had the pledge, when the person reading the information get's something they could have stayed at home and found out. Then there was the trailing part where the informant would ask questions that were personal.

"How is Yuki-san," asked Ishida, the light reflecting in his eyes. "Last I heard, she was mourning over your tragic death."

"Why ask what you already know," said Shenlong as he wrapped his sword back up and pulled out a cigarette that he had imported from another country. Then the last step to the hard times was the bomb.

"I was asking because I was wondering what it would take to get you to reveal that you were alive," said Ishida as he took another drink of his beer. "You see Yuki is the next person in the wolf spirit line seeing as how she's the four tailed beast."


	21. Reminder of What You Are?

Chapter 21: Reminder of What You Are

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters of Naruto. To those who read this thing, please review.

* * *

Naruto closed his eyes and reflected on everything he had witnessed and did before the ceremony robbed the girl of her life. He looked back at all of those in the palace guard who he killed and the ruler of the city, who wasn't a bad guy, he just had it in his mind that he could beat Naruto with the ceremonial sword and his swordsmanship, but he was easily defeated, like a child. It might not have been right what he did, to put the man in the nightmare, but it was nothing like what Itachi did to Kakashi, it was just a regular nightmare that he could wake up from and go on with his life. Maybe that wasn't the thing that was eating away at him at that moment? It was the girl he had just dragged to her death, the way she looked as the life left her eyes and they became as cold and dead as the metal in his hand. He continued cleaning the kunai, making sure to get off all the blood and in his mind, he could see the men he'd killed, their faces as the kunai was plunged into their bodies. Naruto brought his hand up to his headband to feel it's icy coldness, the way a ninja was supposed to respond to everything, and he felt the scar on the leaf symbol, the sign that he was no longer of Konoha, that he could be considered an enemy. Knowing that he had the Kyuubi in him, how did they perceive him? Were they trying to bring him back like he had tried to do with Sasuke or did they see him as to big of a threat to let live?

"How does Hinata view me," he asked to the darkness of his room. He immediately scolded himself for even thinking about her, she was already a million miles away from him. He opened the door to the patio of his room and walked out into the cold night. "Well I guess maybe I have lost a lot of myself, but this change is what's keeping me alive. Now the dye has been cast, I must follow my life with what I've been given."

**'You know you're talking to yourself right," **said the Kyuubi as it woke up within him.

"Well I've been talking to you since you seem to be concerned with where I'm going," said Naruto as he drew a match to light the candles to the outside. "I can sense what you feel as well, remember?"

"**I do, but I can also feel what ****you're**** thinking and I know that you're thinking of her**," said the Kyuubi. "**Why are you just staying within yourself like this? It's not like you kit to just bottle it up instead of letting it out." **

Naruto was about to enter when the door opened and Itachi stepped in the room, not dressed in the usual Akatsuki cloak, but he wore a pair of black pants with a long white shirt. It seemed odd for the tall, ominous looking man to be wearing white. Naruto himself was wearing a black shirt with blue jeans.

"Can I help you Itachi-san," asked Naruto as he walked back into the room.

"Yes I was wondering why you did all those unnecessary things today," said Itachi as he took a seat, making himself at home without Naruto's permission. "You know that the mangekyou deters eye sight with every use?"

"I have no need to worry about that since the Kyuubi's chakra regenerate's any damage to my body," said Naruto as he went into the kitchen to get himself a beer, but decided against it since he was going out soon to blow off some steam. He walked over to grab one of the plain black cloaks on the coat rack. "If anyone asks, I'm going out."

"I hope you're not going back to Konoha," said Itachi as he got up to leave.

"No," lied Naruto as he let out a sigh. He couldn't stop thinking about her, every time he closed his eyes there she was, haunting his every musing and thought. Even if it was dangerous and could lead to his death, he had to see her again, but he wouldn't stay. He could never be a ninja of Konoha ever again. That way was closed.

* * *

Kakashi and Tenzo (Yamato) waited for the informant to show up and give them the information on ROOT's inner workings and any shady deals they might have made. Most inner eyes were locked on the organization and there commander, Danzo, ever since he had tried to have Sasuke killed. The failure showed Danzo one thing, one that Naruto was a danger to his entire operations and second that emotions could be rediscovered in his puppets. It all started with Sai and then it spread to others in the organization, but it also made having informants inside of the organization difficult since those who showed emotion were often kept out of ROOT's inner circle. They had gotten lucky in Shinji because he could have emotions and not show them no matter what circumstances he faced. Of course it was tough for Shinji to get them information because of the new tight security Danzo kept, but Shinji was a genius at finding ways to get around security. Shinji was a genius of many things including mechanics, which came in handy when he lost his left arm during a mission for ROOT. Now it was a metallic claw that was biologically implanted into his severed stub, a sight that was a bit gruesome to behold when he wore short sleeves or sleeveless shirts. He only showed it to people when he wanted to intimidate them, to show them where the metal and flesh fused tog ether.

"Well he called us here and we're on time," said Tenzo as he looked at his watch. He then glanced at Kakashi with a grin. "Even you're on time, Kakashi sempai."

"I think you'll find that I have been getting to everything earlier since the situations changed," replied Kakashi humorlessly. "I hope they haven't found him out, he was a great informant and he was one of those rare members who could hide his emotion form a lot of people."

"Sorry," said a voice from the shadows.

"You're late," noted Tenzo as he tapped his watch.

Shinji appeared out of the darkness, his cloak was a mess as if he had been rushing to get it on before he came. They had never seen him like this, even when he was an inch from getting caught, so to see him like this was a very troublesome thing. Shinji ran his hair through his black hair which was cut short due to regulations within ROOT. He had stubble forming under his chin, varying in length and amount along under his chin, which he refused to cut for personal reasons that were unknown to anyone. The man himself was a mystery to everyone in Konoha, but he was a valuable person to have on one's side.

"Sorry, but I had to get passed security for this," said Shinji as he looked around for anyone who would be spying on him. "What I have just received is only known by a few members in ROOT, including myself."

"Well what do you have for me," asked Kakashi as he leaned against the wall of one of the closed shops.

"I have just gotten word of a secret plot to kill Naruto," said Shinji letting the information slip in. Only Tenzo seemed to be surprised. "It's not just ROOT that's after Naruto, I know that one of the members of the Hyuuga clan is after Naruto on the orders of Hyuuga Hiashi."

"So he did make plans to have Naruto killed," said Kakashi to himself.

"You knew about this," asked Tenzo as he turned to his superior.

"We've suspected something like this would happen or that plans like these were made," replied Kakashi as he got up and handed Shinji something that looked like a key. "You need o stay at this place under our care until everything sorts itself out."

"Thanks," said Shinji as he took the key. "So it's going down tonight."

"Yes, I'm sure Hokage-sama will approve the motion to perform a raid on ROOT," said Kakashi. "The other members of the council have been growing weary of him so we should have no problem with them."

Shinji didn't say anything; he just put the key in his pocket, put up his hood, and just walked away.

* * *

It was an all familiar smell to him, the scent of that red, sticky, messy liquid; the scent of blood. Something inside of him that would respond to the smell, that old side of him that enjoyed the sight of blood, enjoyed the sight of crushing someone's body with the sand. Gaara couldn't get rid of that part that had been the biggest part of him before, but he could control it. The ground was wet with blood, the blood of someone else, and he could tell that the person who had spilled the blood was still in there. The stairs to the upstairs of the house were old wooden, creaky stirs, the kind in haunted houses. They would have been a problem if Gaara couldn't use his sand to levitate over the stairs. The walls were splattered with blood and scratched by something sharp. There were no screams, either he was early or very late. 


	22. At Your Doorstep

Chapter 22: At Your Doorstep

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters associated with Naruto.

* * *

The men weren't expecting him as they tried to get through a barricaded door made of steel with their back turned to him. It would have been easy were it not for the fact that they didn't know how small the room behind the door was and they could just as easily kill their target in the process of opening the door. Whoever they worked for would be pissed to find that they had done that and a person who kept such powerful men in line was a person to fear. Not that Gaara feared anyone besides himself or to be more correctly, his other self. The Gaara that enjoyed killing, enjoyed the sight of blood splattered wall and floors. That was the Gaara that haunted his dreams at night when he had nightmares. As he had grown stronger, his mastery of how much over Shukaku's seal allowed him to sleep without having to worry about the fact losing his sanity in the process.

"I swear to fucking god, I am about two seconds from blowing this thing up," said the man with short brown hair that was slicked back.

"If you do that, we'll have to explain to Pein why the target we were supposed to capture is dead," said the other one with round thick glasses and long black hair. He was biting his thumb nail as he examined the door carefully, making sure as to not over look the most minor flaw in its structure. "I can melt it, I think, with the acid if we can scratch a line in some of the points. Wait that's too complicated, let's just use the acid on the hinges of the door."

"We couldn't have done that an hour ago why," asked the brunette as he tapped his foot with impatience.

"Well then what fun would that be," asked the man with glasses playfully as he took out a small flask from his pocket.

Gaara didn't feel like waiting for the two to finish what they were doing since they could just as easily teleport away before Gaara could attack them or hold the person on the other side hostage. Normally it wouldn't matter to Gaara since the person wasn't important enough to risk them getting away, but he felt a kinship with those who had spirits placed inside of them because he knew the feeling to. He decided to let his sand out a bit, but he did it slowly so that they couldn't hear it. Then when he decided the sand was far enough, Gaara got their attention by coughing, which caused the brunette to fling an explosive tag at him. The tag imploded on the surface of the sand shield and Gaara simply flung back a few of his sand shuriken that allowed the sand to spread itself out more. The one with the glasses threw phials of acid at Gaara to disintegrate some of the sand, but it was of no use since any sand that was dissolved was replaced by more sand. Holding out his right hand, Gaara called up the sand in his gourd to form a sword in his open hand as he reached out to grasp the sword, flexing it around to try out the measurement.

"I know who you are," said the one in glasses as he slipped out an odd object that was like a cylinder with a cocking mechanism and wood handle grip that was curved so that the cylinder could point at Gaara. (A pistol from circa 1700s.) "I wonder how well that sand can hold up to my invention, but I guess experimentation is as good as anything."

The trigger to the strange invention seemed to explode out of the tip as a strange object came right at Gaara. It was a metal ball that, though moving at a fast pace, was knocked aside easily by Gaara's sand, much to the chagrin of the man in glasses. Those who had died from the pistol were shocked by the explosion and the appearance of a metal ball coming right at them, but unfortunately, Gaara's sand acted on its own and Gaara was to in control of his emotions to let something like that happen. Figuring that he should return the favor, Gaara summoned up a small version of the Sukaku to fire a blast of chakra at the man with glasses. The impact threw the man into his parter, who was in the middle of performing the hand seals for a justsu that he would never unleash because as soon as his partner knocked him into the metal door, Gaara ran them through with his sword of sand.

"You can come out now," said Gaara to the person on the other side. "I'm here to help you and if I weren't I would have removed the door with my sand."

The door opened slowly, too slowly for Gaara, who used his sand to fling the door open, and in what seemed like a small room or a large closet stood a little girl who was about eleven clutching to the body of a women. Gaara thought it was her mother or sister, but right now that wasn't his concern. His concern was to get the girl to a safe place and make sure that no one could reach her. He held out his hand for the girl to take and take it she did, deciding that this pale red headed man in black was someone safe, nothing like the two men who tried to break in and kidnap her. The girl got up, breathing heavily from all the excitement and then she collapsed into his arms.

* * *

The players were all there and the cards had been dealt, it was passed time for Hinata to get out, but she was so certain of one dreadful thing. She was certain that she had been intentionally given the second shittiest hand a person could get in poker and they were playing strip poker with four males and four females. They had broken up into groups of four, two guys with two girls and she just happened to get stuck with Kiba, Neko, Tsunade, and the mysterious man who had just seemed to have the key to the room they were meeting up at, Shinji. Hinata took another look at the man's arm, which seemed to be cover with wrappings and cloth so as not to show the place where the metal and flesh met in a sickening bond. Yuki was playing with Anko, Kakashi and Jiraiya, but it was a mystery why Tsunade even brought him to the game, especially with him being the pervert he was. The first hand just happened to fall to Hinata, but she was feeling regret at not wearing a bra under big coat. She had a shirt on, but the laundry machine was being fixed that day and she was in a rush so she just decided to wear a shirt. If she had known she would need it, she would have bought one, but strip poker games weren't a usual past time for her. Looking back at things, the only reason she was there was because she wanted to comfort the hurt Neko by putting her in the environment that she felt comfortable with.

"Okay it looks like I'll be winning this one," said Kiba as he laid out his hand, three of a kind.

"What makes you so sure," asked Neko as she looked at Kiba with a cat-like smile.

"Hinata has a terrible poker face for one thing," said Kiba as he shifted the toothpick in his mouth. Hinata thought he was hanging around Genma for too long. "And you fan yourself with those cards, showing me your hand so I know you ain't got shit."

"Well at least I know I can speak proper English," retorted Neko as she frowned, placing down her hand which was even worse than Hinata's.

"Quiet crying and take it off girl," said Kiba as he set his feet on the table before being flipped over off the table by Neko. He flipped over so as not land on his head and looked pissed as he rose up from the ground. "Hey, damn it, what the hell was that for?"

"You obviously lack the manners to know not to put your feet on the table," she said with a hint of annoyance and playfulness. "I swear your dog has more manners than you do, bitch-slap-mark boy."

"Well your dog looks a hell of a lot prettier than you," retorted Kiba, causing a sigh from Yuki and Hinata. Apparently the two were both likely to start things up and Hinata could tell that Neko was almost like Kiba's female counter part.

"Children stop shouting or I'll put you both out on the street," warned Tsunade before adding, "naked."

Tsunade looked like she was concentrating on the poker game, but her thoughts were turned to more pressing issues in Konoha. One of them was the raid and arrest of Danzo, leader of the second most secretive organization in Konoha, ROOT. If things didn't go as well as she would have hoped, the people might be split into two sides, depending on how they viewed Naruto or, more likely, how their parents viewed Naruto. The old generation was dying, but not killed, and it wouldn't until the fall of the only other leader it has, Danzo. She could only hope the man that Tenzo and Kakashi had suggested was up to the task of carrying out such a raid.

**FLASH BACK BEGINS **

"Subjects name is Kurohichi," said Tenzo as he handed Tsunade the profile of their recommendation. "Even though I am two years his sempai, his skills most likely well exceed my own and his knowledge of jutsus is one of the most incredible things. He is also a man of tactics, having written some of the books that we issue to academy students and chunin, and can think quickly in a fight."

"He is also the person I want to run ANBU when I retire or get promoted to something else," said Kakashi with almost no emotion.

"I thought you wanted the Uchiha boy to run ANBU," laughed Tsunade, who was really taken aback by his statement. Even without the sharingan, Sasuke was a promising ninja and he seemed to be breaking every bone in his body just to make up for the lack of his blood limit. "You even once said how that boy might just surpass you someday, don't tell me what he did finally took away all that trust you had for him."

"Sasuke wouldn't be right for the job though," said Shizune while giving her trademark awkward smile that she always gave when Tsunade said something that was offensive to someone to play it off.

"It's true that even without the sharingan, Sasuke is still a great ninja," said Kakashi. "But he lacks the will to exceed where the position of jonin. He seems to only train to bring Naruto back and has shut himself away from the outside world. No one goes to see him except for those who are sent to patrol him and he seems to grow distant if the name Sakura is ever uttered."

"So he is in other words, he is broken beyond repair," asked Tsunade as she looked at the report more closely. Kakashi only nodded as he lamented his inability to do anything about it. He had failed as a teacher. "Kakashi, it says here that during the first year that he was in ANBU, the first year of Naruto's two and half year training, you taught him. It seems you do well with those who have already developed emotional stability."

"No one is fully invulnerable to tragedy," said Kakashi. "He's one in a million anyway. All I did was to help him better himself and helped him develop his style of fighting. Sasuke, however, was a fault of my own, which was done because I saw too much of myself in him."

"We don't teach them how to deal with their problems Kakashi," replied Tsunade as she closed her eyes and sighed. "We teach them how to carry out orders; anything else is for a shrink and not us. Now I want this Kurohichi to have a team ready to carry out my orders as soon as two hours from now."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

**FLASHBACK ENDS**

* * *

From the sound of her steps he could tell she was proud of herself for some accomplishment, most likely one he would congratulate her for. He always had a habit of congratulating Hinata whenever she did something right, but now he would also be apologizing for leaving and then for having to leave again. Could he honestly run away again, or would she find some way to keep him right there waiting? Could he honestly refuse staying if she asked him to, if she said "I love you?" That was a question he didn't know, but what Naruto did know was that he rang the doorbell and was now waiting for her to come. It was probably a minute, but in his mind he was waiting an eternity. Hinata opened the door to see his eyes from under the dark hood that he wore over his head. Her house wasn't a part of the Hyuuga complex since she hadn't been appointed yet, which was good for him because he never would have made it to her doorstep otherwise.

"Hey," was all he said as the rain and the wind pounded against him.


	23. Night

Chapter 23: Night

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters of Naruto.

* * *

Kurohichi. A ninja who was everything one expected a ninja to be and more. He was remorseless, killed without hesitation, inhumane sometimes, kind to his teammates, resourceful, and clever, oh so clever. It was no surprise to anybody that he was to lead the raid on the ROOT compound and capture the leader, Danzo. The ninja stood over the building next to the complex as he looked at the windows which would soon be broken through by multiple ninjas as soon as Kurohichi gave the word. But the man who was looking at the building wasn't Kurohichi, but his purpose in Konoha was a harmful one, at least it wasn't harmful this time. Every time he had come before, Orochimaru had caused great destruction and suffering to many of the ninja of Konoha, but it was still his village, no matter how much he tried to turn his back on it. Fate was an odd thing, a drama that had so many twists and turns to it, that was a straight path, but as soon as you were two feet down it, the path would change into a complex maze whose wrong turns were never dead ends. The sad thing about fate, the one that Orochimaru hated above all, was the fact that fate always had a dead end, no matter how many right choices you made.

'So how do you stop fate,' thought Orochimaru. It was the question he had wanted to know, ever since his parents had died, ever since he had touched death and saw how no matter how talented he was or powerful he was, death would always be more powerful. Everything that is more powerful is what a person fears the most and Orochimaru feared death. That was what brought him into the world of forbidden jutsu, the fear of there being something more powerful than him.

"Sir, we are awfully close to the Hokage don't you think," asked the ninja kneeling beside him.

"No," replied Orochimaru as he grinned in anticipation. He was about to get front row to the last show of the night. "We both have a common enemy, Konoha and Oto, so I believe that we can all profit from an alliance."

"So why should we trust you," asked the woman standing right behind the two.

"Tsunade, my how long it has been since we last set eyes on each other," said Orochimaru in a casual tone. The tone one would use for responding to old friends or acquaintances, but the two were far from being on friendly terms with each other. "I can tell you took serious thought into the offer just by the fact that I was allowed to be let in by Kakashi and I'm not dead."

"We keep our word, unlike some people," said Tsunade, putting her hatred into her voice.

"Wow that was cruel," laughed Orochimaru. "I think we both know what we want and that's an end to the Akatsuki threat. I know they must be causing you as much problems by having won Naruto over to your side. You're even having the leader of ROOT arrested because of it."

"Just what is your point Orochimaru," asked Tsunade, who was fed up with her former team mate's cryptic answers.

"We both have a grievance with the Akatsuki and if we don't unite against it we'll both be facing a two way war," replied Orochimaru. "So instead I'm riding on this one move to see if you will accept my offer to form an alliance and end all violence between our villages. I am here with no one other than one of my jonin and you have a thousand more at your beck and call. Either you join me or you end my life tonight."

* * *

Hinata just stood there in the doorway looking at him, observing how darker he looked, and how, even after all he had done, she still loved him. The wind and rain seemed to have no effect on him, in fact it actually made him look cooler as he just stood there, calm and composed, while the elements tried to break him. What could be said at this moment that would end the tension between the two friends or was it still possible for them to still be friends. All that Hinata knew was that she still considered him a friend and she wouldn't let a friend stay out in the rain.

"C-co-come on …in Naruto-kun," said Hinata, nervous from having the man who had been haunting her dreams being so close to her.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan," said Naruto as he walked in giving her a smile of relief. He was afraid that he would be turned away after all he had done. Why was she still being his friend after he turned his back on her and all the others? It must be what Sasuke felt when he woke up to find himself off the executioner's list.

He took of his cloak and hung it over the coat hanger so it could dry and he found that the rain had gotten to his jacket and under shirt. Looking around he found that she was living alone, which was surprising to him because he expected some of Kiba's stuff to be there. Naruto didn't want to take off his shirt, it wouldn't be good to act so familiar since he had left. Trying to figure out why he was still there and why he couldn't have just observed her from a distance. He had tried, but the need was to great and before long, Naruto found himself at her doorstep, ringing her doorbell. Letting out a sigh, Naruto decided to ask Hinata for a shirt if she had one, but as soon as he turned to ask her he found her making tea for two people.

"Were you expecting someone else," asked Naruto as he saw her pour tea into the two cups. Surely she couldn't be offering him tea after all that he had done?

"No, I just thought that you might like some tea since you are wet and soaking," replied Hinata with a smile. "You can take off your wet clothes and I'll get you a blanket if you want."

"Hinata…..I can't…..why are you doing all of this for me," asked Naruto as he looked at the ground. He couldn't look at her, not after what he had done to her. "I left this place, abandoned you all, and I've been doing terrible things ever since."

"Everyone wants you to come back to us," replied Hinata as she held his head up so that he looked into her teary eyes. "I want you to come back, Naruto-kun. Do you know how hard it is not to wake up to your smiling face? Everyone has felt your absence and it has been raining every day since you left. Don't you think that we wouldn't want you back here?"

"Do you what I've done, Hinata-chan," asked Naruto as he turned to look at her.

"We know about Iruka," replied Hinata as she tried to avoid his gaze, but he forced her head to look at him. "It's not like anybody even knows that you joined the Akatsuki since they've been keeping it a secret from everybody not associated with you or trusted with the knowledge."

"So you've all been covering up my trail with lies that I am dead," said Naruto as he removed his hand from her cheek. "Maybe I have died or died in the sense that the Naruto that lived in everyone's heart is no longer in existence."

"You just want to hide from it don't you," asked Hinata as she looked him straight in the eyes with a look that made him uneasy. "Naruto, what did you leave Konoha for? Was the fact that you had enough of how the old generation treated you? Was it Sakura's cruel lies? Or was it that you were afraid of being loved by someone?"

"Who loved me," asked Naruto as he turned away from her to look in the mirror. "Everyone had someone else, but I had no one to share my life with, to be there when I got home. All I had were women who were hugging to my reputation, not the real me. You had Kiba, in Sakura's mind I was secondary to Sasuke, and everyone else had someone."

"When I was with Kiba… it was a lie," said Hinata as she wrapped her arms around his wet body to comfort him. "You do have someone to love you Naruto-kun. I love you."

"As did I," said Naruto as he turned around to face her bringing his face within an inch of hers. "You were the one who was always there, watching me from a distance, and then you seemed to be watching me even in my dreams. Haunting my footsteps and dreams as I waited to hear from you mouth, those words that I have always wanted to hear. 'I love you.'"

His face got closer to her face and then, after what had seemed like an eternity, she kissed him with such force and passion that it took away his breath. It was funny how much she could be taking away the air from his lungs, but at the same time she was the one who was giving him life. Her decision could only lead them to one place, the bedroom. How they had gotten there or to that point where unknown, but they both knew that this was where they wanted to be, inside of the bedroom with all the evils of the world outside their doorstep as they embraced each other in warmth that melted the coldest of ice. All she could think about was the feel of his lips against hers, the warmth of his body against her as he finally took off his wet jacket. Her hands traced the ridges of his muscles and abs as she enjoyed the sight of his body, toughened over the course of time. There weren't just muscles on his bodies. Scars from his missions and trials were scattered around his body with one big one right above the seal mark on his stomach. That was something he had gotten from one of the wild goose chases Sakura sent him on and that was the mission that opened his eyes to what Sakura was really doing. Hinata remembered how he looked that day when he realized that he had been played for a fool. It was a look of defeat and anger.

"You really do have more scars than anyone else," said Hinata as tears came to her eyes.

"I've dealt with all of them except this one," said Naruto as he tapped his worse scar. "That one has yet to heal."

"Then let me help Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she took his hand away from the scar and kissed. "Let me help that scar heal."

"Thank you," said Naruto as he kissed her again. "This will go farther if we don't stop now. Do you really want to give me your virginity?"

"Yes, I would give you it willingly," said Hinata. "I love you Naruto and I've missed you every morning that I didn't see you training."

The kisses marked all along her neck and collar bone as he slowly pushed her shirt up to leave them both naked from the waist up. She felt him on his tongue on her, licking her like a dog would lick its master's hand. He never got down to her breasts, instead licking her neck as he moved up to face and back to her mouth. He cupped her breasts in his hands as he started to squeeze them and play with them, causing her to moan in pleasure. Hearing her moan in pleasure was like music to his ears and he let his tongue trail down till it was between her breasts. He looked up at her and saw her blushing and smiling at the same time. It looked cute. He took one of her nipples into her mouth as he swirled it around with his tongue, making her moan uncontrollably. His hands went down to her waist to peel off her pants. She was wearing red lacy panties that were a total contrast to the kind of panties Naruto thought she would wear.

"I half expected you to wear bear panties," laughed Naruto as he kissed her again, moving his tongue around in her mouth. She was wet and he was hard, there was no denying that they wanted each other.

A blush spread across her face as he removed her panties, exposing her wet womanhood to him, the man she loved. He liberated himself from the confines of his clothing and got on top of her, looking into her eyes to see if she had any doubts. Instead, she gave him a nod for him to continue, nothing was going to ruin this moment, the moment when she showed Naruto how much she loved him. Gathering in his breathe, Naruto started pouring chakra into her to numb the pain she would have felt. Moving quickly, Naruto penetrated her, breaking her hymen as he thrust himself into her. She felt a tinge of pain, but not as much as she had thought she would feel and as his thrusting continued, Hinata felt a wave of pleasure washing over her with each thrust.

"Naruto…moanare you enjoying this," asked Hinata between moans.

"Yes," moaned Naruto as he felt her tightness surrounding his erection and he knew that no girl he had ever slept with could ever give him this much pleasure. "Hinata, you're the best….I've ever had."

Her moans and pleads were like the sound of a cool and gentle breeze that was accompanied by a flute. He loved the sound of her voice and to know that he was pleasing her as much as she pleased him. He was moving at a strong, steady pace and she was going to feel like she was in a cloud of pleasure, a paradise that was like a rollercoaster ride with ups and downs. He put his mouth over her left breast and gently sucked on it while thrusting into her. They were getting closer to the edge with each thrust and then Hinata knew she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"NARUTO-KUN," she cried as she reached that cliff and she felt an explosion inside of her as she came on his manhood. The feeling of it only brought Naruto to his climax and before he could pull out of her, she held him close so that he came inside of her.

"I don't care if I get pregnant," whispered Hinata into his ear. "If I am to never see you again after tonight then I want to have your child to remember you by."

"I love you," was all he replied before they both drifted off to sleep.


	24. Cry for You

Chapter 24: Cry for You

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with Naruto. The first part is my attempt at a song fic. The artist is Ashe and the song is called Cry for You. I do not own the song.

* * *

He stood there with his hand out stretched to her, offering her an alliance that sounded like it would be a benefit to Konoha, but could Tsunade really trust Orochimaru, after all he had done. She looked into his snake eyes and saw that he was telling the truth, or at least he was telling the truth about wanting to make the alliance. Memories of all that he had done flashed through her mind, the killing of the Sandaime, the experiments, the deaths of many, the way he tried to kill Naruto, and how every single thing that was done seemed to be done by someone different than the man who stood before her now. What was so different about him? Was this really Orochimaru or was he an imposter that had taken Orochimaru's skin? Then again, it was a surprise to see him go so far from what he had used to be, so much that it left room to debate whether it had been Orochimaru who had done all those things. Especially since he was someone that she had a crush on and even was the man who took her virginity, an act that she had regretted. Looking at him was a reminder at how much of a silly little girl she had been. _

* * *

_

_all the things you say they're not true _

_but i fear i can't just leave you _

_all i feel is that i need you _

_my love_

* * *

"Are you really Orochimaru," asked Tsunade as she narrowed her eyes at him. "The Orochimaru who attacked Konoha would have never do this and he damn well wouldn't be coming back to a place that would kill him instantly."

"I think you're forgetting something my dear Tsunade," said Orochimaru as he turned around to face her. "My father was the one who was forced to make a deal with the eight headed serpent to gain my life back because of one of the old man's mistakes. In that moment I lost my parents, all because he wanted to save his son over all the other twenty children and he thought I was so young that I couldn't remember what happened, but the eight headed made sure I remembered, despite the fact that I was an infant at the time. He encouraged me, taught me so much, took pride in me, tried to become the father that I had been robbed of, and then when he confronted me, he couldn't me because it was his mistake that made me like I am."

"Orochimaru, you forget that people make themselves, not how they are born," said Tsunade as she stared at him with sympathy as if he was some poor misguided fool.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, that is really cute Tsunade-san, but you don't see the worst part," replied Orochimaru as he laughed continuously. "Do you know why I made that jutsu that I use now?"

"You were afraid of death, having been close to it," said Tsunade as she looked at him with curiosity, now putting together the pieces that formed the man who seemed to have no soul.

"The old man made another mistake," said Orochimaru as he began to slip his upper body out of his robe to show what looked like a tattoo of a snake slithering across his body. "He tried to seal that little bit of the snake inside of my body, but oh so sadly, it limited my life, to only thirty-five years. After all my father had done for the village, not even blaming Sarutobi sensei for what happened to me, and his sacrifice was made to come to ultimately nothing, a big failure for having to take his life and the life of his wife. You get me now? Don't you see why I have to be what I am because I have been living through each body just to make sure that I could find a way to live forever and then I would be unchallengeable? Then and only then will I be able to get them back, to get back my parents is why I do what I do."

_

* * *

_

_any more and i will surely meet decay _

_won't you reach out and touch my heart ache _

_feel it beating please don't throw it away_

_i can't believe your careless lies _

_your burning eyes _

_pass through me _

_i never thought our love would die _

_but how could i, _

_i could not see_

* * *

"Orochimaru, why do you wish to seek an alliance with us now," asked Tsunade, getting to the question that she had wanted to ask ever since she had received a letter from him. "You killed the Sandaime and you have caused so much destruction, death and chaos in this village alone. What made you think that you would even be allowed to live, even after all you have said? No one can trust you anymore, not even me?"

* * *

_baby girl you know i need you _

_can't believe that you would leave me this way _

_if my pain will not appeaseyou _

_so it please you i've got nothing to say _

_i now begin to realize _

_you're not the girl i once knew _

_but deep beneath those eyes_

_resides that dying part of you_

* * *

He laughed again, this time not at the fact that he coming there to get something and receive nothing was ironic since he didn't take odds like these. It was the simple fact that what she had just said meant she had sympathy for him. Everything was going blue, then purple and finally it changed it the deepest shade of red as the world seemed to transform around him into an abysmal darkness that he could make out shapes of people that were outlined in red. Except for her, she was the only person he could see clearly, the woman he had hoped would help, the only living being he had ever shared his bed with. Neither man nor woman had ever known the interior of his bed after her, not while he was too busy searching for a way out of his predicament. That was the reason he had come back to the village he had ran from, for help with his body. Splitting his being up so that there were different parts of his soul made everything grow more fragile and going from to body to body slowly eating away at them until he had to form back into one, but it was still decaying.

* * *

_(of you) i will cry, _

_cry for you _

_(for you) i will cry, _

_cry for you_

* * *

"You know what Tsunade I came here to get help," said Orochimaru laughing like the whole thing was the funniest joke he had ever heard, but it was a joke, the punch line to the cruel joke that had been his life. "This soul of mine is dying, doomed to pour itself back into hell and I think, for some reason that is where I wanted to go, to the deepest pit of hell. Maybe that is why I came here, to die and go to hell. Right now, the decay of my soul is spreading to this body and I don't know how many minutes I have left."

* * *

_you shut the moon out _

_as though it were bright as sun in the day  
while we crawl through the dimensions _

_in your head you would show me a way_

_I can't believe your careless lies_

_your burning eyes_

_pass through me_

_I never though our love would die_

_how could I_

_I could not see_

* * *

Tsunade didn't know what to make of it all, this man she thought she knew was dying and he was just like he was when she had that crush on him. Their eyes met and reflected upon the changes of fortune that they had faced for so long, but all of it was nothing compared to that one night when she was his. Just like everything else, it was becoming like dust in the wind, making everything seem like a dream that had faded in the dawn of pain and inner torment. Other shapes became known to him as Jiraiya, Kakashi and his former student, Anko. Blood erupted from his cough as the pain welled up into his insides, making it feel like the snake's venom was slipping through his body like acid.

"Well doesn't anyone want to kill me now," asked Orochimaru as he chuckled a bit, they were all surrounding, people who had seen him and had the utmost contempt for, but they hadn't killed him the moment they laid eyes on him. "I thought you would be jumping at this opportunity to see me dead, Anko, but I guess it's more satisfying to see me die slowly and painfully. What about you Kakashi? After I stole your precious student from you, set off the chain events that led them to the emotional train wrecks they are, you should be stabbing me to death with a rusty screw driver."

"Even in death everyone is one with the Buddha," replied Anko as she ran her hand through her hair, but he didn't see it, he just heard the sound of it. "Not that I'm religious or anything, but I can see how you turned out to be what you are. It doesn't make up for anything, but now I've just stopped caring."

"Well said," commented Kakashi.

"Well Jiraiya, will you end my life for me or do I have to ask Sasuke to do it," asked Orochimaru as his head turned to look at the perverted hermit who he had once called friend. "I know it's hard to ask for a favor, but if you don't mind I wish to die soon. The pain is terrible yes, but I think the suspense is really killing me."

"Well your since of humor is as terrible as ever, old friend," said Jiraiya as he looked down at Orochimaru, who looked far from the menace to the five great villages. "Your student died as of two days ago by committing suicide and I don't think anyone has the heart to kill you now."

"Bull shit," coughed Orochimaru as blood came with it. "You all just want to see me suffer a horrendous death and say that you remembered the good things about me. I swear, your morals are just things to cover up when you act as bad as I do. It sickens me that no one will kill me now, but you all say that at this moment you pity me. Well you can take that pity and stuff it right back up your self-righteous asses because I'm through with everything. None of you will miss me and none of you will cry for me when I'm gone so just get it over with go on with your lives. Had I not said anything you would have killed me as soon as look at me, but now you seem to be hesitant to draw out your kunai."

"Someone would cry for you, Orochimaru," whispered Tsunade loud enough for all of them to hear. "Kakashi give me your kunai."

"Why are you doing this for me, Tsunade," asked Orochimaru, who was, for once in his life, shocked by Tsunade's actions. "I thought after everything I did, you would hate me, especially after that one night that was before I left to go perform my last experiment in Konoha, the one that the old man had finally confronted me on."

"A favor between friends…..and lovers," said Tsunade as she raised the blade over her head, looking into the eyes of the man who had comforted her that night after Dan's funeral, when she felt lonely and weak. "Consider this a thank you for giving me one night when I wasn't lonely."

"You're welcome, Tsunade," said Orochimaru as he smiled. "Good bye to my friends, acquaintances, students, and lovers. Before I die, there is something I wish to tell you Tsunade. The reason Sanjuro went with me was because it was the other way around, I followed his plan. The thing about Sanjuro is that isn't his name."

"What are you talking about," asked Tsunade as she stared at him, the kunai still over her head and ready to be brought down.

"Have you ever wondered why my name is Orochimaru, the name of an eight headed serpent," asked Orochimaru. "The reason is that my name wasn't Orochimaru to begin with. When the deal was made and I was being brought back to life, the serpent stood there in his human form and told me asked me for my name. When I told him he said that since I was taking some of him I should switch my name to his name. I asked what name he would call himself; he replied that he would just take my old name."

"Do you mean that…?"

"Yes, of course Tsunade. My original name was Sanjuro." Then came the kunai, death release and her tears.

* * *

_see for you_

_i will cry, cry for you _

_(for you) i will cry, cry for you _

_(for you) i will cry, cry for you _

_(for you) i will cry, cry for you _

_(for you) i will cry, cry for you _

_(for you)_

* * *

Naruto dressed himself in his clothes, which had dried off while he slept next to her feeling safer than he had in a long time. A comfort that he didn't want to leave, but he couldn't complicate her life anymore with his insanity. He had left it once to kill someone, the person who was his brother, and he made it look like suicide, but it wasn't Naruto, it was something else. A personality that had been placed inside of him and until he could destroy it, Naruto was a danger to everyone, including Hinata. He got out a piece of paper that was covered with cute drawings of cartoon kitties and he wrote the letter that he hoped would say more. Then he put on his cloak and stole into what was left of the darkness, not knowing that the old generation had died during the night because he didn't care about them anymore. It was this new threat inside of him that was the problem, but he couldn't solve it here and so he walked unaware that the downward spiral continued along that path. 


	25. Beneath the Line of Sanity

Chapter 25: Beneath the Line of Sanity

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters associated with Naruto. Right now the next few chapters will go away from Naruto and Hinata, to the other plots, like Shenlong and Renji.

* * *

The smoke from the cigarette blew up into the rainy sky, oddly enough since the rain was coming down like a hail of kunai and shuriken, battering everything that it touched in its wake. The two men were running trying to get out from under the oppressive sky of black and the furious winds that would rip the skin from the body. Both mean were wearing white cloaks to show their status with the Date Clan and kept their wide brim hats over their heads to prevent anyone from seeing their faces making them look more intimidating. They turned the corner down to a red light district, where the women were kept behind a glass window show they could see them, but at the same time, they wouldn't be caught in the rain. They were all dressed in very ecchi clothing, some with very loose kimonos, all sex red, others dressed in the same manner as girls from hentai movies would. Women were what the men had come for, and they weren't leaving until they had gotten it. It all led the two to a large inn that had beautiful women at the windows in school girl outfits.

"Looks like we found an exciting place to find pleasurable company," said one of the men as he walked down to the other side of the inn, taking in the sight of the gorgeous women that were behind the plates of glass. "Which one do you think I should choose?"

"That is your decision and not mine," replied the other one, who had a scar on his cheek.

They didn't see the other man who was watching them from the shadows as he drank his cup of coffee and looked out at them. He knew he couldn't keep it in their pants and he always looked at the man who was smoking, his partner, from across the road as he gave him the nod. The watcher took out a pack of cigars from his leather trench coat and lit it with the matches in his pocket, but the he would have to become the hunter and, luckily for him, the smell of cigar smoke was enough to mask his trails. His partner was smoking a cheap brand of cigarettes that he could get from the local gas station and they were very weak. The watcher however, liked to smoke on an expensive brand of cigars that were imported from another country instead of being made in his home village of suna. His partner smoked cheap cigarettes that were he personally felt were weak and would chide his partner about it from time to time.

The man in the leather trench coat got up and readjusted his sunglasses so no one could see his eyes. He didn't like to give away information to total strangers and his eyes were special, having been a signature trait of his description. The big thing he kept wrapped up in bandages lay next to him and he picked it up as he turned to walk down the street while his partner walked the other way. No one could tell that the two knew each other unless they expected them to be there.

* * *

The two men were inside having a great time with the women of the house since they had their pick of choice. The date clan had considerable power and influence in the town, some people considered Date Masamune to be the mayor of the town due to his influence on the mayor and what went on in the city. The two walked upstairs with two women whom they had chosen to be the best of the house and they were shit faced drunk. Their feet shuffled awkwardly on the floor as they lurched about like zombies looking for their next victim. The room they had chosen was a big room with comfy looking king sized beds that were imported from a different country. The rest of the room was done in traditional Japanese style, but the bed was there because it was considered a sign of wealth.

"So what shall we do first ladies," said the one with a scar on his cheek. "Shall we do some song and dance or do we just get straight to the action? We are very eager to get you two in bed, but we think it would be better for you to strip for us."

"I'll take the little one," said the other man. "It looks like her first time and I've been known to be gentle in bringing a child into womanhood."

"That's always your problem," said the scarred cheek one. "You just like them to young for your own good. That's why you've been getting in trouble with the village."

"They can't touch me as long as a I got the Date clan on my said," replied the other one as he flexed a muscle. There was a soft chuckle that sounded like it came from a dark person. The two turned to see a man dressed in a leather trench coat, black shirt, leather pants, and black combat boots. "Who the fuck are you, you creepy bastard?"

"Tell me something," said the man as he looked at him through his dark sunglasses. "Does hiding behind that clan symbol make you feel big down there or does raping little girls do that for you?"

"Why son of a bitch," shouted the angered thug. He charged at the man in sunglasses, waited until the punch came and stopped it with his thumb, pinky, and middle finger.

"You might be good for punching thugs like yourself," said the mysterious man in black. "But for someone who specializes in killing, your punches amount to absolutely shit."

Then the man in black broke the man's hand with just his three fingers and smacked him aside with left hand in the same way one would swat at a fly. The one with the scar on his cheek was sweating, this man who stood before them was strong enough to kill the both of them and not even break a sweat. Never had they encountered someone this powerful and by the way those sunglasses covered his eyes, the man could tell who this mystery man was.

"Are you Shenlong," asked the scarred man. "Are you the same bastard that slaughtered over a hundred men in an hour?"

"Who is asking," asked the man as he took off his sunglasses to reveal his red wolf eyes. A sense of dread crawled down the other man's spine. "I must have missed something, but aren't I supposed to be the one asking the questions here or am I mistaken?"

"I am Scar," said the man as he stared in fear at the man who was standing before him and then the man flash stepped up to him and pinned him against the wall with just his index finger.

"Now it's my turn to ask questions about your boss," said Shenlong as he looked at the man. "For every time you don't give me the answer I want to hear, I'm going to break something and when I'm bored with that, I'll start cutting. Now first question, is your boss part of the Akatsuki?"

* * *

Renji waited for his partner to come out and was just about to light a cigarette when Shenlong appeared out of a swarm of ravens in his traditional style. It was a thing that got on his nerves constantly, but he would never tell him that. Renji was no slouch and he could go toe-to-toe with some of the best, but Shenlong had elevated to stature of legend with good reason. Even though he had suffered one defeat, Shenlong hadn't diminished in intimidation and he seemed to have gotten stronger from the near death experience. If he wasn't stronger, he was definitely more vicious than before.

"So do you know where he lives," asked Renji as he put the cigarette back in his pack.

"Yeah," replied Shenlong as he walked on with a map in his hand, the same kind of map that was sold at the information lobby upon first entering the town. "As I said, the compound for the Date clan is on the map and the structure of it is guarded by twenty men. The only person we need to worry about would be Date himself and his partner."

"Do you know who it is," asked Renji as he ran his hand over the stubble on his chin.

'They didn't say," replied Shenlong as he walked ahead, leaving his partner to interpret his meaning.

The rain was coming down hard on them as they made their way to the Date clan, becoming more obvious to the crowd as Shenlong's tall form stood out among them and Renji was the only person with red hair. They weren't supposed to wear their headbands because it was the most obvious banner of ninja they could have on them, but Shenlong seemed to not care about the not attracting attention thing. He wanted to attract attention because it would force Date to come out and confront him in the open and not in the spot where he was strongest. Renji kept his hand on the kunai in his pocket while Shenlong just walked with his ridiculously large object hanging over his shoulder. As soon as they reached they gates they were greeted by two guards.

"What's your business here," asked one of the guards.

"Masamune Date, get him out here," commanded Shenlong as he set his heavy object down.

"If you think you can command us to do something, you're terribly wrong," said the guard as he brought out his sword. The sword was still in his arm two minutes later, but his arm wasn't apart of his body.


	26. Purpose

Chapter 26: Purpose

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

Sakura couldn't understand how Gaara could be untouched by the scorching sun with black clothes that covered most of his body and a giant gourd on his back. Even his siblings were getting a little tired, but Gaara seemed untouched, as if he weren't even human, but Sakura wouldn't say those thoughts out loud. As far as she was concerned, he was more human than she was, since she had acted so cruel to Naruto and used others to her advantage, making them all go on a wild goose chase for Sasuke, who was now to messed up in the head to do anything, spending his nights alone until Sakura came to check on him and more and more, she saw the boy she had once had a crush on, fading away like a dream. _Gaara, on the other hand, is perfectly sound in mind,_ thought Sakura as she took another look at the Kazekage who had once pinned her to a tree and threatened to kill her. _Not to mention the fact that he's a kind and gentle person, nothing like I am, so he's so far out of my reach that I can't help but blush when he helps me out over the most minor of things._ The land of suna had ended a while back, but during a terrible war during the rivalry of villages, the sand and leaf fought like the bitterest of enemies. Now they were probably the most deadly alliance, and probably the closest alliance of its time, which only went to prove how much of an ironic joke fate was. During that, part of the forest on the leaf territory that was on the border of suna towards the southern part, was completely scorched and left as desolate waste. 

"My god how can you stand walking in this heat with such dark clothing," asked Sakura as she eyed Gaara suspiciously, trying to find whatever tricks this pale man dressed in black had up his sleeve.

"I was born in suna and as such I made it a point to take a daily five mile jog during noon," replied Gaara as he surveyed the area like a hawk looking for its prey. "As an added bonus, the sand actually helps me cool down by moving around my body, so that the sand heats up and then goes back in the gourd when it gets too hot."

"I would consider that an unfair advantage," complained Kankuro as he climbed up the rock formation that was in the way of the path to the next town.

"Well try not sleeping for half your life and then tell me which you would prefer," said Gaara, not in an angry tone or in any tone that gave away a hint as to what emotion he was feeling. "The town is right down there anyway so let's go down there, find who we're looking for and get out."

"You make that sound too easy," laughed Kankuro as he waited for Temari to show up. "Damn, ever since she started dating that Nara boy she's been slacking off a bit. I swear she needs to move her ass faster because I've seen it and it's getting fatter."

"I'm right here dip shit," shouted Temari as she grabbed a shocked Kankuro by the collar and started to strangle her sibling. "You're the one whose ass is getting fat from all those parties you go to and those days off when you sit at home and do nothing."

"I do some things," retorted Kankuro as he tried to free himself from his older sister's grip. "What do you do, but lay around with that Nara boy and look at the stars. I bet he's too lazy to even have sex with you."

"Please, why don't you take a look out yourself," said Temari, which only made Gaara more annoyed at the bickering, but they didn't notice the swirling sand that loomed above their heads. "And at least Shikamaru's man enough not to wear makeup."

"Will both of you shut the hell up for two minutes," shouted Gaara as he brought a giant ball of sand down to crush a rock. "You both are giving a huge fucking headache here."

"I can help you with that," said Sakura as she put chakra into her fingers and after receiving a nod of approval from Gaara, she put her hand to his head and soothed the pain caused from frustration.

"Thank you Sakura, I really needed that before I killed them all," said Gaara as he ran his hand through his thick red hair, leaving his two siblings to wonder if he was joking or not.

"It's all I can do unfortunately," replied Sakura as she gave him a smile, but Gaara could see past it, see that she really felt useless.

"A medic is just as essential to the team as anyone else," said Gaara as he put his hand on her shoulder causing her to blush at the feel of his touch. "You are strong Sakura and you can fight just as well as most jonin and you try to make up for your weakness by sticking in there. Truly you have earned your place among the elite of Konoha."

"Thank you, Gaara-sama," replied Sakura, tears coming to her eyes as she movede away from his touch, feeling that she would defile him with her touch, just as she had corrupted Naruto with her lies and deceit. "But I have betrayed those who matter and even if I could heal a thousand people in my lifetime, I would never be able to make up for my stupidity and for the way I treated my friends like pawns, all for a boy who never cared if I was raped by dogs."

"Sakura, looking back at the past isn't good for one's health and I think that," said Gaara as he pulled her to her feet and gave her a smile, a real one. "If I lived in the past of my crimes I'd have probably died a long time ago, but I live for today so that I can find something that is real. Back when we first met, I felt like I could make up for everything I lacked by killing people and making them hurt, like I hurt every day, but when I first met Naruto, it was like looking into a mirror at what I wanted to be. The only thing that could help me was love and that was what was real for me. Today I live, not to kill, but I live to find that which is real."

"Gaara-sama," whispered Sakura as she looked at the man who had been changing as a result of his interactions with Naruto. That was Naruto's true power, to give back to people what they had lost, but right then and there, Gaara was giving Sakura back something that she believed she had lost somewhere along the way.

"Well I think we should be heading in that direction," said Gaara as he walked down to the village that lay before them and he when he walked alone, he seemed to be the loneliest person she had ever seen. Quickly, she up next to him and walked beside him, the least she could do for the person who had done so much for her was to make sure that he wasn't alone anymore because he didn't deserve to be walking alone.

* * *

The compound was done in a more traditional style, with paper doors that slid and koi ponds, something that seemed a bit nostalgic, but it was very tactful, since it meant that there was nowhere for a person to hid. Lanterns lit up the place showing who was where and making sure that every shadow was cast into the sight of a guard. Unfortunately for the person who owned the compound, Shenlong didn't want to hide himself as he just cut through the paper and any guards that where on the other side. Keeping his steady pace, it was like he was death itself, walking about followed by destruction and chaos. The guards were al rushing about to find him, but Shenlong decided that none of them would see his face and he used the sand that he kept in a pouch to go through the halls and put out each lamp so that he walked in perfect darkness. While the guards couldn't see him, Shenlong could smell them, their swords and weapons, and the fear that was emitting from the depths of their souls. Renji was circling from the other side, using the chaos and panic that his partner had brought as a cover for himself so he could sneak in and put out any communications. The job was being done efficiently and mercilessly, something that was a characteristic of Shenlong's missions. 

It was only after a few dozen guards later that Shenlong reached the main part of the compound, which changed from the traditional paper doors and walls to solid walls that were made to hamper enemy process. Oddly enough, Renji's idea of taking explosive tags being useful had actually been useful even though Shenlong said that using explosive tags would give away position to the guards inside. Now he was blowing the walls apart and waiting for the guards to come out, but they were different from the common thugs that he had been taking down so far. These were smart and knew that he would be expecting them to come out and had shuriken that could separate into different fragments. A smile spread across his face as he walked into the hole in the wall, his sword at the ready to block any projectile weapons that would be heading his way. To his surprise, most of the guards were sprawled across the floor, rendered unconscious by some unknown intruder, one who Shenlong was dying to meet. He walked into the main chamber which was where the clan heads met to discuss matters, but now it's only occupant was a woman holding a strange red gem that seemed to glow bright in waves. She had silver colored hair that glistened in the moon light that came in through the ceiling making her look like a spirit and as he saw the wolf ears on her head, he knew she was one.

"So are you a representative of the Okami clan," asked Shenlong as he sat down to light a cigarette that he looked at the woman standing in the center of the room. "Well, it seems that I finally see one of the members of the clan. All I got back when I died was that my family served your clan and it was my turn to bear the torch. So what would you have your servant do?"

"Number one, in coming back to life you became one of us," said the woman as she took her hands off the gem and let it float in midair. "Do you know why it happened?"

"That was on last night's Jeopardy I think," said Shenlong as he stroked his chin, acting as if he was trying to remember something.

"You are every bit of an ass as your father said you were," replied the woman as she smiled a bit. Shenlong grinned; the Okami clan had a sense of humor. He hated it when he had to serve people who had no sense of humor because it meant that his witty sarcasm could only be appreciated by those who had the sense of humor for it. "But the reason you are like us now is because of that night, when you grabbed the sword out of its sheath, from that moment you were destined to become one of us."

"Sorry, but everything before the day after the night is a blank," said Shenlong as he looked down at his feet in torment. "Even my own name is unknown to me, the name I have now is the name of my family's sword, the one that is buried with their bodies."

"So you believe that you are unworthy of the sword," asked the okami as she got closer to him, placing her left hand on his right shoulder.

"No, I'm saving it for when I find him," said Shenlong as his hand shook with anger. "I'm waiting till I find out whoever sent those demons to my family's house and I will use that sword to severe his head from his body. The one thing I remembered when I died was the face of that bastard and I know that the man who I killed me was the same man who plunged the sword into my mother's chest."

"Ah, so you remember a few things, but only what is necessary for your revenge," commented the okami as she twirled about in the room, earning a look of puzzlement from Shenlong. "What is it about my dance that excites you or captures your attention? Are you starting to like what you see?"

"With all due respect you are the worse dancer I have ever seen dance in my life," laughed Shenlong as he nearly choked on his cigarette.

"Your just jealous because you can't dance as good as I do," she retorted as she got closer to him and whispered seductively into his ear, "I know you want this body."

"Don't flatter yourself," he replied, only to find her right behind with her hands wrapping around him.

"Oh well, you were just as faithful as they say you are…..and just as big might I add. It's a shame that your heart already belongs to another because I am sure you would make a good mate."

"You have a larger purpose than just standing there and talking to me so come on and tell me what you have to say," he whispered in her ear as he grabbed her by the waist.

"You wasted your time coming here; these men wouldn't be able to do that much to your objective."

"My objective?"

"The woman you love, Yuki, is oddly enough, your objective," replied the woman as she grabbed the gem and put it in his hand. "You'll need this later on if you're going to take on Orochimaru."

"Why would that pale snake bastard go after Yuki," asked Shenlong in shock. "For him to use that power inside of her is impossible and if he could why are you sending someone like me after him."

"Well, seven tails, we have a lot to discuss, starting with who you are."


	27. Who Am I?

Chapter 27: Who am I

Disclaimer: I've been getting some really positive reviews from everybody (those who review) and I'm really grateful for those who review.

* * *

There it was again, that infernal tapping, as if someone were gently rapping, rapping on Kiba's front door at eight in the morning on one of his free days. If it were a guy that he didn't know then Kiba might have beat him into a pulp, provided the guy wasn't scary looking, but this wasn't a guy, not even one that he knew. It was a girl about his age, who had seen naked the previous night, and had seen to draw up a mutual interest of one another. Interests in women only went so far for Kiba, but this woman had enough of an interest for him to reply in a friendly manner and tell her that if she liked, she could wait in the living room while he slept for at least seven more hours. Before he could tell her any of this, however, she had already walked in the room, talking about what she had for breakfast and, in the process, leaving Kiba dazed as to what was going on. He turned to look at her, but found that she wasn't in his front hallway and from the sound of her voice, she was heading for the kitchen. Unfortunately for Kiba, he had posters of women, naked women or women in skimpy clothing.

"How troublesome," said Kiba, quoting Shikamaru's catchphrase, which was probably copyrighted. "I don't even know how she found my compound…..oh wait The Inuzuka is still a major clan of Konoha, even if we aren't as big as the Hyuuga, so it's no wonder that she found me, especially with my growing fan club."

His fan club often wrote to him and he would reply back with letters to the both of them. A sigh was let out from his mouth as he looked at how he always seemed to finish last just because he had all the characteristics of a dog, but then again, he was in a clan that specialized in dogs. Most of his time was spent tracking people since an Inuzuka could track someone in a different country, but very few of the Inuzuka could be called tactically competent and maybe only one could be called a tactical genius. Konoha elders, instead of trying to make an improvement in the intelligence level of the Inuzuka, hoped that Kakashi would be cloned or have lots of kids with Anko so that his genius and tracking abilities could be spread out throughout the village. Unlike the Inuzuka, the Hatake clan was very short on people, actually, ever since the war with the rock, the Hatake clan had been reduced to only two males, Kakashi and his cousin, Renji.

Kiba walked into the kitchen to see Neko staring at the pictures in shock, such shock that she was dead to the world. He could have lit her sandal on fir and she would never notice. Walking casually up to the wall, Kiba started to take down the pictures, hoping that as soon Neko came out of what he thought was a coma, she could be convinced that she was seeing things. When he had gotten all of them down, Kiba decided to wake her up, but the process proved to be tricky as nothing he did seemed to do anything to her. Scratching his head, Kiba got a wonderful idea and an awful idea. The wonderful idea was to kiss her and hope that the feeling of his lips on her own would wake her up or he would get a free kiss out of it. His awful idea was to strip her naked and take pictures of her, hoping that either the feeling of no clothes on her or the flash, would wake her up. Kiba decided to go with the wonderful idea, not because he knew that she would probably scream rape till her head came off, but because there was no memory left in his digital camera. He looked around to make sure he was alone before he pressed his lips against hers and when that seemed to be getting him nowhere, he licked at her bottom lip. He was allowed access into her mouth as he felt an arm wrap around his neck.

"Did you enjoy the kiss, annoying girl," asked Kiba playfully.

"It was okay I guess, pervert," replied Neko with a grin. "By the way, I was sent to tell you that there is an emergency assembly at the Hokage's office in thirty minutes."

* * *

The back door was guarded by ten guards and as far as Renji knew, there were more inside, the unknown factor once again becoming a nuisance to his job. Deciding to blow it up and then follow up with an all out hail of shuriken from some clones, he would move under the covering fire. Most of the men who were still trying to move past the hail were caught unaware and Renji quickly dispatched of his last obstacles. Now came the more difficult factor because he expected the guards inside to be a lot tougher than the ones outside. Though the front was done in a traditional Japanese style, the back was built like a fortress with stone walls guarding the inside. They wouldn't stand up to an explosive tag, but any explosion would alert the guards on the other side of the wall. Thinking of how he should do things, Renji noticed how there was a lack of guards coming towards him and he wandered just how strong this clan really was. They had to be powerful to be influencing such a bustling city, but from what he had experienced, they were all talk and no show. He let out a sigh of relief as he walked around the halls unchallenged, but still on the alert for any traps that they might have placed. It was a few minutes later that Renji came to what looked like the meditation chambers of the Date clan, but there was only one person in the room, a man. He was dressed in a black kungfu shirt that was sleeveless with designs of tigers and lions. He has short black hair, a decent build, but he was a bit shorter than what Renji had imagined him to be. From all the talk about Masamune, Renji wasn't seeing the same intimidation that other people saw in him, but then again, Renji himself was tall. The Hatake were known for their tall statures and he though he wasn't as tall as Shenlong, he was at least the same height as his cousin, Kakashi.

"I have been expecting you," said Masamune as he got up and took out a scroll and tossed it to Renji. A quick examination of the object in midair and the look on Masamune's face told Renji that it wasn't anything unpleasant so he grabbed it before it reached his face.

"And just what, pray tell is this," asked Renji as he looked at the object and then at the man who had given him the scroll.

"We wish to establish a truce, the Aktsuki with the leaf," replied the leader of the Date clan.

"Why would this be profitable to us," asked Renji as he eyed the scroll curiously. "It seems so unlikely that you do such a thing after coming so close to achieving your goal."

"We both have a new threat that is far beyond any of us right now. We are willing to give up our ambition to form an alliance with you and we only hope that you will stop hunting us. Really, we are weak right now, I won't lie about that, and so if you want to, you could crush us right now and there would be nothing we could do about it, but in doing so you leave yourself open for attack."

"Well it all does make sense, except for the fact that we also have other allies who would side with us in defeating you. Don't think that you are safe, even if you were to hide in the Hidden Rain village."

"Well it's true, but we have something that you want so badly that you would agree to this."

"Ah, so you give us back Naruto and we let you off, maybe even join us?"

"Yes, those are our thoughts exactly."

* * *

He was staring at the woman in silver hair for what seemed like forever as the gem was slowly fitting into his chest and slipping into his heart. All he could think of was that the whole thing was taking too long when what he had been after for what seemed like forever, was just in his grasp. She looked into his red wolf eyes with her own, normal looking wolf eyes and then the man felt a wave of a sudden feeling in his chest, as if his heart had started beating for the first time. The feeling brought him to his knees as he gasped and the pounding in his chest that was making it hard to breathe. In a few minutes the thumping went away and he was able to catch his breath.

"Now what would you like to know first," asked the okami.

"My name," replied the man. "Who am I?"

"You are Bishamon," was the reply. "Welcome Bishamon, welcome to your destiny."

"And just what is that exactly?"

* * *

With the publishing of this chapter, The Downward Spiral has become my logest fan fic yet. And is almost becoming my most successful, just need two more favorites and it will become more successful than Their Eyes Met With Love. 


	28. Memories of Him

Chapter 28: Memories of Him

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with Naruto. Also, the parts with Shenlong were actually on a different time stream than the events in Konoha so everything that happened in his part was done about two days from that part.

* * *

How long had it been since he had waited there for his prey to step into the killing zone, days, months, or weeks? It didn't matter to Neiji, he had lost all since of time as he looked for what would be his destiny no matter what the outcome. Years ago he would think that he was destined to kill Naruto, but now he wasn't too sure about that scenario, especially since Naruto was the one who showed him that though people did have a destiny that was inescapable, no one knew what their fate was. One could only match, blow for blow, the machinations of time and thus defy the tyrannous stars. All of the other stuff was secondary to his immediate attention though, the only thing that mattered to him now was that Naruto, the person who he had been hunting for, was standing near a tree, yawning slightly. Tenten was by his side, scrolls at the ready to summon any weapons that they could use, and she gave him a nod that showed that he had her support. 

The one thing he could always count on was that she would be there to back him up if he needed anything or anyone, a thing that was very precious to him. The knowledge that he would always have someone to pick him up when he fell and when everything else was gone, was something that he had treasured the most. Tenten, his teammate and friend, a pity it would never be anything more because he was certain that after this he was going to be executed and would testify that he forced her to help him in the murder of Naruto. His eyes looked over her body, the same outfit that she wore before she became a chunin that brought back many memories, when he didn't care about anything else besides becoming better and one day being as free as a bird in the sky. She had always been there to help him, got mad with him, and get annoyed at Rock Lee and Gai sensei's antics. There she was, standing next to him, the girl who he had shared everything with, and in a few minutes, she would help him achieve his destiny.

"You can come out now," said Naruto to the two jonin in the tree. "I can smell you both and I can smell the blood on Tenten's scroll so I know you intend to kill me."

"So you have reserved yourself to this," asked Neiji as he looked at Naruto, who had a different aura around him, even different from the times when he had called upon the Kyuubi's chakra. "What is different about you now, Naruto-san? Have you finally snapped like everyone said you would?"

"What about you," asked Naruto as he grinned at him, his eyes slowly changing to the mangekyou, but with a tint of red. "Are you here because you were ordered to be or do you hold me responsible for Rock Lee's death?"

"Both," replied Neiji as he stared at the man he thought he once knew, but now it was like something else was staring at him. "Don't worry Naruto, I will free you of your madness soon enough."

* * *

Yuki lay on her bed as her thoughts traveled back to that man, the man who had shared his bed with her that one cold night when she was vulnerable from the past. Her parents abandoned her at a young age and she grew up on the streets of suna, always watching the other kids play, but she would keep her distance. They were so strange in the way they acted, as if they were happy because they could feel the sensation of their hand. It was then that she was adopted by a suna ninja and was placed in great care for some reason that was unknown to her. She seemed to learn fast in her studies, but as soon as she was a genin she had to start associating with other human beings and found how wonderful it felt to have friends. Over time she had become a chunin and was then placed under Gaara's command as a body guard for his walks. Seeing as how Gaara enjoyed her company, she was made his full time body guard as soon as she became a jonin, but honestly, it was she was being guarded by him. Then came Shenlong, the man who was such a mystery to her and to himself, most of those who saw him were always left in a sense of awe as he passed by. Every time someone looked at him they were all trying to see past the mask that his sunglasses put up. Strange how not being able to see his eyes could have such an effect as keeping people from seeing his true face, but when the sunglasses came off, one could see that there was a difference in character. There were also different sides to him when he took his glasses off, one being the face he had when he fought. He would look like some wild animal that killed on a whim and he had this blood thirsty look that struck terror into his opponents, especially when they knew he was angry. He had never given her that look; instead whenever he looked at her, he had these other eyes that showed the human inside of him. Animal instincts, humanly kindness and the other reserved side of him, but which one was true. That night that she lay next to him for the first time, when he was a friend when she needed one, that night he let down his mask. 

**FLASK BACK BEGINS**

She was walking alone down the road without an umbrella to keep the rain off of her, but she didn't go for cover from the rain. It was soaking her to the bone and yet she continued to walk through this rare heavy rain that only came to suna about once a year. Her foster parents wouldn't be at home to shout at her for not carrying an umbrella or that she had walked in the rain instead of waiting somewhere for the rain to stop. They had died only two nights ago, leaving her with an empty home that seemed to be filled with memories of what had once been a complete family. A sheep looking for a flock to roam with, but being left out in the world for the wolves to get. What led her to that district of suna? She never went into the ninth district since it was so far from that house that she had called home, a reminder that she was out of alone in the world. Maybe it was because she knew that he was there? Everyone knew where to find him, but that was because nearly everyone had been sent to there to deliver a message or was going to participate in a mission with him. He had saved her on one of the missions that she had accompanied him on, but he seemed very reserved, even though he talked to her the most. Whatever the reason was, she was standing right in front of his door step not wondering what to do.

Her hand trailed slowly to the door as if it were a vicious dog that she didn't know if it would bite her when she pet I or if it would just let her touch it's ears. The idea of knocking on someone's door wasn't that frightening, but this wasn't just anybodies door, this was Shenlong's door, and there was no telling what would be answering the door. It could be either him or the giant sword that was forged for him since he had his families sword buried with his parents, but he had proved to be just as powerful with the sword in his hand. After debating for what seemed like a good two hours, Yuki knocked on his door and made the decision to find out more about him. To her surprise, Shenlong didn't answer the door with a sword, instead he stood there in doorway wearing a black pair of jeans and a black shirt that. He wasn't wearing his sunglasses.

"Hello, I know it may be strange for me to ask this, but could you let me use this place for shelter, Shenlong-san," asked Yuki as she smiled at him, but it wasn't a real one and he knew that.

"As long as you don't make smiling that a habit," replied Shenlong as he pointed at her face. His face showed no emotion besides annoyance, but eyes were showing something else, something hidden.

"Gomen, I was just thinking that you wouldn't want a guest who looks like she has problems," said Yuki as she looked down at her feet, her soaking wet feet.

"I don't mind the frowning half as much as I mind the fake smiling part," said Shenlong as he ran his hand over his shirt blonde hair. "Well, come on in before you die of a fever or something of that nature."

"Thank you," said Yuki as she bowed and walked inside, a bit nervous at being at his house, the house of the most interesting jonin in all of suna. "Ummm….do you have any spare clothes that I could borrow since my regular clothes are all wet?"

"Yes I always go shopping just in case a woman comes soaking wet into my apartment at 10:00 P.M.," replied Shenlong as he walked into his living room and sat down on his couch. The couch was as black as his clothes and made it seem as if he was a disembodied head. "I might have some clothes that would fit you since you are about her size."

"You don't mean some of our mother's clothes," asked Yuki nervously, thinking that this guy was talking casually about giving her the same clothes his dead mother use to wear.

"Hell no, they all burned in the fire," replied Shenlong, a bit of hurt in his eyes. "The other woman who had this apartment before me left some of her clothes here that you can use if they fit."

"Oh," said Yuki, embarrassed by what she had just suggested. She followed him to an old closet that held some clothes that had belonged to the tenant before him and she decided that the tenant before him was a hooker. For one thing, all the clothes were short shorts that reached about to be bloomers and the tank tops were all for someone who had smaller breasts. Yuki was not such a woman and found herself gasping for air as the material pushed her breasts into her lungs. "How did she fit into these things?"

"Actually she died of suffocation," replied Shenlong as he read one of the books he had taken from a self.

"What?!"

"Relax, I was only joking," laughed Shenlong, which was strange to see him laugh because he rarely did anything, but look cold and emotionless. "She actually had smaller breasts, but you can borrow one of my shirts."

"Oh no I couldn't inconvenience you like that," said Yuki as she motioned frantically for him to stop, but he ignored her and placed a red shirt in her hand. "Th-Thank you, Shenlong-san."

"You don't like your house, now that they're gone," said Shenlong, not even thinking to ask because he knew that he was right. "Why did you come here then, may I ask?"

"Well, I don't know," said Yuki as tears streamed down her eyes. "I was just walking, hoping that if I got wet, they would be there to shout at me for getting so wet and not trying to get out of the rain. They were always there for me and I don't know what to do without them. I was born without parents and when they adopted me, it was the happiest day of my life because I finally could be one of those kids who had someone to go home to."

"You know, the saddest day of my life wasn't the day when I lost my parents," said Shenlong as he began to look more human to her and the mask that was covering his face was slowly crumbling. "It was the day after when I realized that not only would I never see them again, but I wouldn't be able to remember anything about them or myself. Even now I have no name, just a borrowed name that is as unreal as the dreams I thought were memories. I have not a soul to come home to except my pack and they took care of me when I was alone with no one else to talk to. If you like I think I'll ask my wolf family if they will adopt you just as they adopted me."

She hugged him, wrapping her arms around him tightly so he wouldn't go, trying to keep with her someone who cared about her. Tears poured down her cheek like rain drops as she thanked him for pitying her and would gladly help him find out who he was. Then she did something that she didn't expect for her to do, she kissed him, touching his lips with her own and to her surprise, he returned her kiss. She felt it moving against her lip, his tongue begging for entrance to his mouth, and she let it slip in and explore the wonders of her mouth. A moan was muffled in his mouth. Or was it hers? One could hardly tell where he ended and she began. In a few minutes he was on top of her, inside of her, as he kissed her passionately and reveled in her moans. She could see his scarred body, she the story they told about the man who was making love to her. She screamed his name as she reached her peek and he soon followed.

**FLASHBACK ENDS**

* * *

She was staring at him, Neiji, the man she loved, covered in his own blood that was erupting out of the wound that should have been hers. For some reason, he had given up a killing stroke just to save her from the blow that might have left her bleeding on the floor. Tenten could only stare in wonder at the blood soaked Neiji and all that was coming out of her were tears that fell right down on him. Her hand was running through his black hair and slowly he could feel his body going numb as it slowly died off. Neiji had given up his life for one reason, so that she could live, so that his mistakes didn't bring death to her, the last precious thing in his life. 

"Why did you have to do that," asked Tenten as her tears washed away some of the blood on his face. "Why did you have to take that blow instead of me?"

"It was my time to show you that I cared for you," replied Neiji, his eyelids growing heavier and his eyes focusing on her. She looked so beautiful. "You have done…so much….for me….and I never…..told you thank you. I couldn't let you…. die without…. saying that. There is something I wanted to say to you, but now it seems…like it is best left…unsaid since we will be parting soon."

"Neiji," she whispered as she stared into his eyes. They were all cold and dead, devoid of any life, and then her last cry of his name was the sign of his passing. It was then that she felt something enter her back and cut through her vital organs.

"You can still tell her what you wanted to say," said Naruto as he plunged the sword even deeper into her, allowing the two lovers to go together in death. He took the sword out of her back and wiped it off on her pants. He felt something against his back and he knew the cold sensation of a kunai.

"Please don't make me do this, Naruto-kun," said Hinata as tears flowed from her eyes.


	29. End of the Downward Spiral

Chapter 29: The End of the Downward Spiral

Disclaimer: When I say this is the end of the downward spiral I refer to decent of madness, not the story itself. I do not own Naruto or the characters of Naruto.

* * *

What was different about his eyes? There was something there that she couldn't place and as she looked into them, she couldn't help, but wonder if this was really the man she had given her virginity to or if he was something else wearing his skin. His eyes were the same sharingan eyes that he had before, but they were blood red and had this wild look in them as if all reason had left his inner consciousness and he was just a being of instinct and urges. The way he licked his lips as he stared at her with hunger was entirely different, not like the quick fox lick, but a long snake lick all across his lips, getting his message across. Behind him lay the bodies of two lovers that were given the thing that every couple wanted, the chance to go together in death, hand in hand. Naruto hadn't done it out of mercy for Tenten though. To the contrary, he did it just because he felt there wasn't enough blood in the air and even now he still wanted more blood. She could see it in his eyes and by the way he slowly approached her, making sure that the kunai that she had held to his back was safely embedded in the place he had thrown in as soon as he snatched it away from her. Each step was just like a mirror, breaking slowly as the sensation of force formed the crack on it. The image of Naruto was breaking, being replaced by something else, something inhuman.

'Don't come any closer," warned Hinata as she backed up a bit, determined to fight this imposter who called himself Naruto. "I know you're not Naruto, you imposter, you are just some creature of instinct and desire, killing whenever the need catch you."

"I guess it is true that nothing gets past those eyes, Hinata-chan," said Naruto, but not in his voice, but the voice of the man she had met in the hot springs, the one called Sanjuro. "Poor Naruto, he couldn't tell that I had put something inside of him when we first met. It's been waiting for the moment when his mental condition would deteriorate and I have caused all of that to happen. This is the best plan I've ever made, second to the time I did it to the Kyuubi."

"You were the one who caused all of the terrible things in Naruto's life," shouted Hinata as she pulled out another kunai and awoke her Byakugan.

"Well, not all the things, but his childhood was the result of my actions," replied Naruto-Sanjuro as he laughed in her face. He was walking around aimlessly and there was something in his walk that seemed to be off, as if his body was working against him. "It seems like he has some resistance to me, but it doesn't matter, he will lose himself as soon as I kill you. Then my plan for gaining his power will be complete."

"How could you be so cruel," asked Hinata as she glared, but it only made him laugh.

"Your right this will ruin my chances for citizen of the year award," said the thing in Naruto's body with mock shock. "I'll have to burn down an orphanage and kill all the children just so I can make it up."

"You're sick," said Hinata with disgust and then he flash stepped right up to her and put his hand on her cheek. "Don't you dare touch me with your filthy hands."

"Look here, little girl," said the thing Naruto's body as it brought his face closer to hers. "God kills everything indiscriminately, as do I. No other creature on this world is more like god than me."

"Your no god, you're just a demon in a human body," said Hinata as she glared at him. "Give him back to me! Give me back Naruto-kun!"

"You know I never chose to have this thing in me, but I feel like I've adopted its personality," said Sanjuro as he brought the kunai out and shifted it to a stabbing position. "When I was only four years old, a genjutsu user put me under an illusion just because the thing that resided in me had killed her parents. I can understand Naruto, and I don't hate the ones who persecuted me either. Of course then again, that's only because she realized that I wasn't that demon inside of me and ran away from her greatest crime. Problem was that she forgot to remove the genjutsu and I was stuck in it for over a week, but hey, it took away my emotions so maybe it did help. Maybe that's why I act like him, but then again I don't question what I am, I just am a killer, pure and simple. Now then I have unfinished business with you."

She closed her eyes and waited for him to make the first move, but was surprised to hear the metal plunging into flesh, feel the hot sticky blood, but never did she feel pain. Maybe he had done it so fast that she didn't feel it or maybe the pain was still waiting to catch up. Slowly, she opened one eye and saw to her shock and terror that the kunai wasn't in her, but in Naruto's side. His eyes held two personalities, one the man known as Sanjuro and the other was Naruto, the man she loved. He pulled the kunai out and then stabbed himself again and again, bleeding the other side out of him. Then the blood loss was too great and he couldn't stand as he fell back and hit the ground with a thud. She rushed to his side, which was more accurately his death bed.

"Naruto-kun, why," she asked as she looked at him with tears falling down her cheeks and onto his face, like a calm gentle rain.

"I was taking the definitive step I needed to take control," he replied as he tried to move his hand, but found his arm was too tired to even move. "I can't move my arm Hinata and this body is dying slowly, too slowly for me."

"No we can heal this, you don't have to die like this," she cried as she hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go of him for a second. "You must not die, I'll be lonely without you."

"You carry…my legacy…and my memory," said Naruto as he smiled and then his eyes seemed to be dying away slowly. "I love you Hinata. Please, I know it's so much to ask, but could you kill me."

There were no words other words exchanged between the two because of how awkward and sad it would be for anyone to say anything. Only one choice of what to do, but it was the hardest thing to do, for her to kill the man she loved and the father of the child she was carrying. She looked into herself and saw the growing egg and she was sure that he could tell it was there. Rain poured down on them, the same rain that should was away all the blood and impure things away from the body was now washing away the man who made her day. Her head cam down slowly as she kissed him for one last time, a soothing kiss that seemed to take his breath away as the merciful kunai took his life away, ending the tragic life of the boy who had once been Naruto Uzumaki. Then she heard him and sensed the presence of the man that was standing in the tree. He was dressed in black leather pants with a matching vest that had a wolf on the back and he wore those same black sunglasses that she had always seen him wear.

"Can you tell me how you came back from the dead," asked Hinata as she looked at him with pleading eyes.

"It won't work for him, but I can offer you a way to get him back from hell," said Shenlong as he seemed to cough up something that looked like a red gem. "God damn it, she didn't tell me it would hurt that much. Anyway, if you want, I can help you bring him back from hell."

"Naruto-kun is in…hell," asked Hinata looking at Shenlong puzzled, how can Naruto be blamed for what he did.

"To punish him and purify him from that madness inside," replied Shenlong as he jumped down to the ground and stood at his full height. "Even if Sanjuro put a piece of himself inside of Naruto, it was only feeding off of Naruto's anger and murderous rage that he bottled up. In Naruto's mind, he was to blame for everything and so he weighed his own soul down."

"Then I will do everything I can to get him back," said Hinata as she stood up in determination. She had wasted most of her life by not telling him how she felt about him, but now she was going to make the first move and no more depending on others; she was going to do this with her own strength. No one was going to be carrying Hinata Hyuuga anymore. "I'm ready to go if you would show me the way."

"Well since the other players just arrived I think we should move on before our guide gets angry," said Shenlong as he picked up his sword and turned to look at the three men who stood with their bags behind them. "Well I guess this is our winning combination or these are the people I spend all eternity in hell with. Hope it's that first one."

The gem glowed in his hand and sent the five on their journey.

* * *

Author's note: Next chapter begins the upward journey. 


	30. Where in the Hell are We?

Chapter 30: Welcome to my Nightmare

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters of Naruto.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, all he could feel was the intense heat coming from the blazing flames surrounding him, but inside he felt cold as ice, like someone had put his insides in a freezer. Hellish scream made up the atmosphere of this new place that was most likely the hell he resigned himself to in order to pay for his cries. Ash and smoke covered the sky line and the smell choked the breath out of him as he fell to his knees, gasping for air. As he brought his hands to mouth to try and filter out the ash and debris that was in the air, he found that he those he claws he got whenever the Kyuubi took over. Moreover, the scars on his face looked more like the whiskers it was supposed to resemble, the reminder of what was inside of him. It was then that he realized that he didn't need to breathe as he had lost the use of his lungs sometime ago and he wondered as to what caused this change, trying to piece together the puzzle in his mind. He finally scanned the area to get a good feel for his position and he took in the notice that there were few people or souls around.

"Despite all those who deserve it, Hell seems to be a lot less crowded than I imagined," said Naruto aloud to know one at all. He was alone in the sounds of screams, he was alone in hell.

"**You haven't seen all of it**** boy**," said a familiar voice that Naruto recognized as the one who talked in his ear when he slept at night. The only other person he had in his whole life, the prisoner that brought so much suffering to Naruto because he was the prison. "**There is a lot more to see and ****od****, but more importantly, we need to find the exit.**"

"Don't tell me this place scares you," said Naruto as he chuckled a bit. "Tell me, are you inside of me or has that bond been broken."

"**Only now, but as soon as we leave it will be restored**," replied the fox as he finally appeared before Naruto in what appeared to be a hanyou form. "**I just don't like staying here with all the dead people moaning about how bad they had it and how they don't deserve it. You are the only one here who doesn't deserve to be here so let's get you back to where you belong.**"

"I feel I belong here," said Naruto as he touched a red rock to feel a burning sensation at his finger tips, causing him to pull his hand back. "This place is the perfect place for me to atone for my sins and maybe, someday, I can be forgiven by those I have wronged. Why do you even care? You're free now so why don't you go?"

**"If I ****coulda****, I ****woulda****, but right now I am still attached to you and must exist on whatever plane you exist in. Don't think for a second that this is some act of mercy or atonement for my sins of making your childhood what it was. Sob stories have no effect on me, but I do not see why you resigned yourself to here.**"

"Why am I like this," asked Naruto as he looked at his hands and touched his canines, which had grown in size and sharpness. "If you're out of me then why am I like this?"

**"You and I are now sharing power**," replied the fox as he rubbed his temples to show the headache he was getting from Naruto's insistence to be in Hell. "**You know, I doubt anyone holds a grudge against you since everything you have done so far has been to protect your own life. Anything else was the result of either a bad childhood that you didn't deserve or whatever that bastard did to you. Why you choose to be here is beyond me, but I think we should still be moving along now.**"

"Why, has something got you, the mighty Kyuubi, scared," asked Naruto as he began to laugh hysterically.

"**If you had a mind to begin with, I would have thought you just lost it**," replied the Kyuubi as he sighed and walked on. "**Well you might as well come along since you've got nothing to do and that goes for the one watching us from atop of the rock to the right.**"

"Actually it's to the left," said the figure as he jumped down into Naruto's vision.

**"Not from where I'm facing, ****Orochimaru**" said the Kyuubi as he walked on, followed by his two companions in hell.

* * *

There they were in hell, five people all looking for one man and now they were waiting for the tour guide to show up. It's not that Kakashi was suffering from impatience, it's just that they were in a fiery pit of an unpleasantness filled with the sounds of people crying in pain and terror. Not exactly the place to bring the kids to, but still he had no choice in the matter of where Naruto would go. All he could do right now was to go with the flow of fate and do all he could to find Naruto and teach him show him that he could come back. Any other time he would be reading one of the many Icha Icha books that he kept in his pocket, but he was wearing an ANBU uniform since he had taken control of it and the outfit had no pockets. For now he was just standing around keeping his cool while Bishamon, the man once known as Shenlong, was questioning why he chose that person for his guide. Hinata was holding up well, but you could tell that she hated waiting for the guide. Gaara and Itachi were their same, emotionless selves that made them seem cold.

"Um…are you sure that he's coming," asked Hinata timidly. She hadn't known how to talk to the guy before he died and now that he was presumably undead, he was more intimidating than ever.

"Well I'm offering him a way out of hell so I doubt he would spit in my face," said Bishamon as he rubbed his temples again while checking his watch and finding that the heat had affected the battery. "He'll be here and if not, we can only hope that we find someone else, hopefully someone I haven't killed."

"So just who is your guide," asked Itachi as he looked at Bishamon with curiosity. It was too hard to cover ones emotions in the heat and Itachi figured that he could get away showing some emotion, just not too much.

"Well it might be better to wait until he comes," replied Bishamon as he took his watch off and threw it into the horizon. A cry of pain could be heard as something hit flesh. "I hope that wasn't something dangerous. Well anyway, he'll be here soon."

"Is there something we should know about this guide of yours," asked Kakashi as he cocked an eyebrow.

"No I just love surprises and suspense," said Bishamon as he started scratching one of the wolf ears coming out of his head.

"I've been meaning to ask you about those," said Hinata as she pointed at them and then his tail. "Also I want to know why you have wolf ears and a tail."

"It's a complicated story that would take extremely long and I am certain that the man we're waiting for will come," said Bishamon as he took off his sunglasses to rub the area between them, but he still closed his eyes so no one saw them. Only Gaara had ever seen them.

"You've been saying that for the past hour," said Gaara as he looked out into the desolate landscape that reminded him of the desert.

"I wouldn't say hour," replied Bishamon as he looked at the top of a rock formation to see what he thought looked like a demon. In its hand was his watch. "Okay well this is ironic because I had a watch that looked just like that except I threw in the opposite direction of you so there is no way that it could have hit you."

"No," said Itachi with a smirk. "That's exactly where you threw it, I'm sure of it."

"Itachi, go fuck yourself," retorted Bishamon as unsheathed his sword. "Really you and the entire Uchiha clan, go fuck yourselves, except for your mother, I'll be keeping her busy fucking me."

"I am going to kill you, Bishamon," declared Itachi as he pulled a katana Bishamon.

"I think there is a more important matter at hand," said Hinata as she sweat dropped, not so much from the heat, but from the frustration at the amount of help she was getting.

"It's been taken care of," said Gaara as he stared at the man on top of the rock formation where the demon had stood.

"My god, what took you so long," asked Bishamon in frustration. "Do you know how long I was waiting in this shit hole called Hell?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have a watch or a sense of time," said their tour guide as he shouldered his large blade. "Besides, this is hell, it's not like it's supposed to have a fucking oasis or something and you never set a time with me, how was I supposed to know I was going to get lost?"

"Let me get this straight," said Bishamon as he held his head in hand. "You're our tour guide for this place that you've been in for say, seven years, and you got lost."

"That's right," said Zabuza as he grinned at them, his face wasn't hidden by bandages.

* * *

"Wait a second I hear something," said Naruto as he stopped in his tracks.

"Stopping in hell is not a good idea," said orochimaru, but he also stood to hear what was an unmistakable shout of frustration.

Somwhere off in the distant, someone was shouting, "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKK!"

* * *

Well this has become my number one hit and somehow I want to make it last longer, but I think that will just make too many filler chapters. Also, I have a new Devil May Cry fic out, it's called Inheritance so check it outand remember to review. 


	31. An Old Friend

Chapter 31: Old Friends

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters of Naruto.

* * *

The hills were formed into odd shapes that resembled jigsaw puzzle pieces, except they were all the same color so a person would either have an easy time with the puzzle or get frustrated that he spent his money on such a puzzle. Naruto was just walking through so he didn't care how shitty or plain the landscape was, the only thing that mattered was that shout that he had heard. Someone was here on their own free will and somehow, he remembered that voice as the voice of a suna ninja who he had worked with once. The man himself was tall and had short blond hair. He had this habit of wearing nothing but black and sometimes it just seemed like he was trying to hide in the shadows. _Shenlong_ thought Naruto. _That's his name. __Shenlong__, the ninja who knows not his past or his future, a man fighting for the sake of gaining everything. That's how he was described in those books, but the description does no justice to the real man behind the legend. The man who could go toe-to-toe with even the __sanin__ if he had to, that's the kind of man he is._ No matter how many conversations Naruto had with him, it seemed like Shenlong would remain a mystery to him, but if he was in hell, Naruto could see if he could finally see beneath those glasses.

"**So we are going towards a man who you sort of know**," asked th Kyuubi as he trailed along with Naruto's quick steps.

"Well yeah, but he would make a good ally," said Naruto. "We are going to need all the help we can get if we want to leave this place."

"**You mean you're not all remorseful anymore,"** asked the Kyuubi as he stared at Naruto in curiosity. "**Make up your mind, like a few minutes ago you said you belonged here and now ****your**** wanting to leave. Hinata didn't get you pregnant, did she?"**

"Do you want to leave here or not," asked Naruto as he stopped suddenly turning to face his companion in life.

"Can we do this in some other place besides hell," asked Orochimaru. "Besides, we need to see how Naruto's friends are doing. I'm sure they're here to if Naruto became so interested."

"**Well that explains something**," said the Kyuubi. **"Lead on then, maybe they can talk sense into you.**"

* * *

The group of six now walked with the guide in the front to check any land formations that could give some clue as to where they were. It was hot and the shouts of the screaming were driving them bat sit insane, even Gaara and Itachi were showing their irritation. Kakashi was recalling each chapter of his favorite Icha Icha book, which he remembered by heart, just like all of them, and would sometimes say them out loud unconsciously. Bishamon was actually having a conversation with Zabuza, which was like watching Gai being more reserved and quiet. The two seemed to be very familiar with one another, as if they had been lifelong friends, but Bishamon had only been a jonin for six years, long after Zabuza was killed. Most of what they talked about was how they had been faring since they last met, which was when Bishamon was training himself.

"Well, Hell has become my stomping ground and has a lot of good fights around here," said Zabuza as he stopped to remember which the right direction was. "So I hear that you had a girl yourself, when did this happen?"

"When I joined suna as a jonin," replied Bishamon. "She was the person to snap me out of my wild animal state and then one night, she shows up on my doorstep, soaking wet from the rain. It was strange that she was there since we didn't really know each other all that well, but she didn't want to go home. Her parents died and she would only be reminded of them whenever she walked into that house."

"You know, how come I'm older than you, but you wind up with more luck," asked Zabuza. "I got killed and sent to hell, you're alive after flat lining and you got stronger because of it."

"So you're saying you're not any stronger than when you died," asked Bishamon with a grin on his face.

Zabuza would have said something if a hellish cry didn't ring out ahead of them, a cry that belonged to something that wasn't human. In truth, the thing wasn't human, it might have been human before, but Hell had molded the human spirit into something unnatural. Something about it seemed familiar to Bishamon, but he couldn't place it exactly, it must have been one of the men he killed a while back. Most of the men he had killed he couldn't remember, but women had always made an impression on him, mostly because they were meant to seduce him. Of course he hadn't killed that many women. The thing came at him and then he ducked under it, drawing out his family sword, Shenlong. The sound of the metal coming was like a bell ringing in the wind and it flashed like lighting in the dark, bringing with it a man without his sunglasses. For the first time most of them had known him, he had shown them his eyes and he looked now, like an Okami come to hell to take over. That's what he was now, an Okami, and he was standing there, calm, cool, and composed, standing there with the sword in his hand and his whole form radiating a blood lust that chilled the soul of the demon. His mask had come off and now one of the many shades of Bishamon was out to play.

The sword moved in arc as it cut down to the air to cut off one of the creatures arms and he then threw shuriken at its body. The monster howled in pain as it threw one of its claws at him in retaliation. He dove under it and continued to cut at the monster as it cried out in pain and surprise. The cry was heard by other monsters, which answered the call for help and surrounded the group. Kakashi and Itachi called on the sharingan, while Hinata activated her byakugan, waiting for the monsters to get close to her. One of the monsters jumped at them and was ripped apart by Gaara's sand and the next one was cut in half by Zabuza's sword, but they were still coming at them. Most of them were piling up on top of each other, trying to get at the fresh meat that had come in so willingly. Things weren't looking so good for them, until the wind blew a deadly wind that cut them down. Skin peeled off the muscles and the bone. Suddenly, they found themselves surrounded by a mound of corpses and standing on top of a hill was the man they were looking for, staring at them. They watched him and then they watched his back. Only one of them dare follow him.


	32. War Council

Chapter 32: War Council

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with Naruto.

* * *

They all stood there in the room, the heads of each department, standing in judgment on what to do about the growing threat of the newly revived sound village that was under new management. At the head of ANBU black ops was Renji, who had taken over in Kakashi's absence though he offered the title to Anko, since she had spent more time with the group. Renji was a solo man and rarely partnered with anyone besides those who were considered professionals, but Renji always felt inferior because his partners would always do more than him. Bishamon was the worst, especially since he changed his name, Renji hated it when people did it and he would have to try and remember a name all over again, something that he was terrible at. A shiver ran through his spine as he remembered the time he forgot Anko's name and a week later they found him chained to a tree in the woods, crying to someone named Clarence that he wanted to go by to Bedford Falls. Of course, Bishamon had done well to point out that he wouldn't forget him if he was under constant threat of having Bishamon's name carved into his skull and Renji had no doubt in his mind that Bishamon was serious when he said that.

For ROOT it was Shinji, the man with the mechanical arm, but the decision was in Renji's opinion, the same thing as putting himself in charge of ANBU. Both secret organizations could be run by one man, Kurohichi, and it was no secret that Kakashi had him pegged down to take his place as captain of ANBU. Most of everything didn't make sense anymore to him, not sense he came back and was immediately thrust into the new world that had formed while he was gone. In one night, the Akatsuki had joined with Konoha, the Rock village was destroyed by the forces of Sound, and the Mist village was now at an all time high in power. It was way too much stuff piling up on his plate and now he had to look at the fact that his cousin, one of the most powerful members of the Akatsuki, the Hyuuga heiress, the Kazekage, and the leader of suna's ANBU, were all chasing Naruto in hell. Even for a ninja this was not a normal day at the office and they were expected to kill without emotion. Now the biggest thing on his mind was that he was looking at the Hokage in combat gear that consisted of a pair of black pants with her gray shirt that was now covered by a type of vest that only accented her chest and her hair was tied into the twin pony tails that she wore so her longer pony tail didn't get in the way. She had her hands rested on a large battle axe, which was only a symbol of how much strength she had that she could use wield such an axe with quickness and agility that a shinobi should have. Most of the people in the room had traditional ninja weapons, except for Jiraiya, who used a cold band cudgel, seemingly strange that the sanin to be taught how to use it would be him. Then again, his teacher was like a father figure and tried to nurture Jiraiya's skill by instructing him in the use of the cudgel.

The Hyuuga were being represented by the younger sibling, Hanabi, instead of Hinata, who was right about now, fighting off demons of legend. Few people knew that because if it was known, somebody was going to be suggesting a guard be sent after her, someone from the Hyuuga clan, and then they would try to scold Tsunade for letting Hinata go like that, which would end in their inevitable death or they become a vegetable. He had convinced her not to tell the Hyuuga's because it would cause panic when they didn't need it, but he really did it for the safety of the poor, dumb bastard who would try to scold her. Right next to the Hyuuga were the Aburame, a clan known for its assassins and were more influential than most people thought. It wasn't as big as the Hyuuga clan or what the Uchiha clan was, but they had more members in ANBU than anyone else do to their ability to use insects. Everyone knew how much Danzo had tried to get his hands on an orphan so he could have one in ROOT, but he was always blocked by the Aburame's tight knit bonds that made it impossible for one to even turn traitor. The last traitor they had had long since been forgotten and was mainly regarded as a myth because of the great bounds they took to make sure it seemed like he never existed. The heir to the Aburame clan, Shino Aburame, was in love with the daughter of the Yamanaka family, which was odd that a clan would marry into a small family. No one in the Hyuuga ever married into smaller clans that were almost like families, seeing it as beneath them to marry into any other clan. It was common knowledge of how much the Hyuuga wanted Hinata to marry the Inuzuka clan heir, but that couple had just ended and her heart seemed dead set on Naruto Uzumaki. That was generally not liked by her father because the Uzumaki were almost dead except for the small bit still in the whirlpool country. His father's can however, was a looming shadow that branched through every ninja village, more dominantly a leaf family and they were probably just as powerful as the Hyuuga clan was, if not more powerful. Really, Hiashi had no vision what so ever and had probably died bitterly not knowing how fortunate it would be for his clan to have ties with the Minamoto.

"So why exactly are we here," asked one of the members of the interrogation unit, only to be punched by his superior, Morino Ibiki, the man you would not want to meet in a dark alley or anywhere else.

"This is obviously a war you dolt," said Ibiki as he bowed before Tsunade. "My apologies, Hokage-sama, what is it you would like for us to do?"

"Thank you Ibiki," said Tsunade as she motioned for Ibiki to sit down. The man was like a guard dog and his loyalty was never questioned. "You did not have to do that since wars are not a common thing. First matter of business is that you all know that Renji Hatake is subbing for Kakashi while he retrieves Naruto with Hinata, Shenlong and Kazekage-sama. As such, we have reports of Sound movement from heading in our direction and we have to have this village prepared for the invasion. Ibiki, is in charge of the gate as always, while ANBU will be inserted into teams of three for sabotage and to head all counter attacks. Our allies from suna are already outside of the village and we have our new allies, the Akatsuki, in charge of small harassments and then attacks on enemy camps. The Mist village is also providing assassins for taking out key leaders, but we expect them to try what Orochimaru did before."

"Why are we trusting the village," asked one of the members of the of the suna representatives, that was lead by Temari. "Haven't they been the cause of deaths and didn't they nearly kill our Kazekage?"

"Well yes, but right now they're not as strong," replied Tsunade as she gave a respectful apology bow to the leader Pein. "Also, we have killed some of their members so it's pretty much even on both sides. After all, they have given up their mission and are only trying to get back control of the Rain village."

"I thought you killed the previous leader," asked one of the ANBU.

"I did, but I wasn't counting on the webs of lies that I had once used to be used against me," replied Pein. "One of my members turned out to be manipulating events from behind my back and now, this is what I have reached, absolutely nothing. When I first saw Sanjuro, I thought that he was a good swordsman, but relied on his sword too much. I didn't expect him to be the vessel of the eight headed serpent and I never expected him to be so powerful, even without the sword."

"Well he may be powerful, but he's not immortal," said Jiraiya as he looked out at the rain. "Everyone has someone stronger than them, a bigger fish, you just weren't that fish."

"I doubt that you could eat such a fish," laughed Pein as he quieted his right hand man, Mugen. "But we can do what we can to cripple his army and wait until Naruto-san comes back."

"Should we really be waiting for him," asked Renji with a sigh. He couldn't stand plans that would only succeed if one person did their job, especially when that one person was in Hell. "I think it's not a long shot to say that we couldn't defeat him on our own, especially if we could beat cripple his army."

"That is true, but such a war would be costly and we don't know the limit of his power," replied Tsunade, regretting that she didn't know how to do any of the forbidden seals that the previous Hokages knew. "Anyway, we should be able to slow them down by having our strongest genjutsu users up front. Also, as long as we can keep him between the outside and the first district of the village, we can force them into moving around in a territory that was made for defensive guerilla tactics. Our underground network is by far the most complex ever built and our compasses are easily destroyed so there is no chance of them being able to navigate it like that. Then we can send an attack group in the side of enemy forces to spear right through their right flank and cut them off, maybe even capture this Sanjuro."

"So when should we be ready by," asked Jiraiya as he had his squad assemble.

"Have your summoners in place within the hour," said Tsunade as she looked at the pouring rain and hurricane like wind. "I can feel it in my bones, he's coming."

When do we give the order to attack, Lord Sanjuro," asked the sound jonin as he bowed before Sanjuro who was dressed in a white hakama that had armor plating over the vital areas.

"Soon," said Sanjuro. "In about two minutes after my squad makes the first attack."

"Yes sir," was the quick reply before the jonin vanished into smoke.

* * *

Sanjuro had his squad move at a slow pace, making sure to be way of any hiding enemies. His hand rested on his sword as every pore in his body was waiting with great anticipation for the fun that would be had when everything started. He didn't expect them to be easy and he hoped they weren't because if they were, his fun would end too soon. Life hadn't been good for Sanjuro during his childhood due to Orochimaru, the serpent that was sealed into his body, and he often suffered under this. His own name was Kanzo, but he had adopted that name when he decided to abandon the village and start his own plot to make them all pay. It wasn't that he hated the leaf village, he couldn't feel any emotion, and he only acted like he did, but he was always calm and deceivingly sane. His dark nature was a side effect of having Orochimaru sealed within in him and he adopted it when he was left with no emotion, not knowing how to feel about something. After a while, those things that he thought he felt took the place of his real emotions. As he came closer to the village he felt the presence of someone that he hadn't felt for so long, the presence of his creator, the person who made him the clay to be molded by the serpent. He knew it was a genjutsu even before she casted it and he was able to release it before she knew what was going on.

"Well it seems like your genjutsu is as effective as ever, Kurenai sensei," said Sanjuro with a sick grin on his face.

"Shit, how did figure out it was a genjutsu so quickly," asked Kurenai from her hiding place in the trees.

"The same way I know you are exactly three feet to the left in the cherry blossom tree," replied Sanjuro. "You and I have a connection that allows me to know whenever you are near because of what you gave to me when I was so little."

"Who are you," she asked as she dropped out of the tree to get a better look at the man she was attacking. He looked familiar, like an old sin that she had in her past.

"You don't remember me," asked Sanjuro with mock hurt. "That wounds me so that you would not remember my face, or have I changed so much along with my name?"

"No you can't be," cried Kurenai in shock as she stepped back in shocking realization of who he was.

"You remember me don't you? The boy who you tortured with that genjutsu and that nightmare that plagued for so long until I simply changed, a new man standing right before your eyes."

"I am sorry for what I did to you when you were a child," said Kurenai as she got onto her knees and bowed to him remembering that day when she went looking for the little boy. Her father and brother were killed trying to subdue the serpent and she blamed him personally for their deaths. "I know that I have no right to beg forgiveness after what I did to you."

"You were actually the only one to torture me," said Sanjuro as he reached down and pulled her head so that she looked him in his eyes. They were cold and yet somehow alive, like the eyes of a severed head when it's first cut off. "You also forgot to cancel it before you ran off crying, but I guess the realization that you had tortured an innocent was too much for you to bear. Do you know what that did to me when I was left on the floor, delirious and exhausted from the nightmare that had lasted for two weeks? That one jutsu killed every emotion in my subconscious mind and thus began the molding of my mind until I am what you see before me. Right now, I'm not going to kill you, I'll just let you watch as I lay waste to your village and you will live a long life, knowing that the death of so many was because of your stupidity."

He had his men grab her and take her back into the lines so that she could watch the leaf's destruction and give him the perfect revenge. He would have liked things to have gone his way, but it seemed that Konoha's defenses were even better, blocking his entrance. His first wave of men blew a hole in the gate around the village and when they walked in they were immediately hit with a hail of kunai and shuriken. Throwing explosive notes at the defenders for covering fire, a squad of sound ninja tried to advance, but was killed by a squad of ANBU. Sanjuro smirked as he licked his lips. This would be a long war.


	33. Sick Sad Little World

Chapter33: Sick Sad Little World

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters of Naruto.

* * *

She had been following him for some time since he had come to her aide, but he still wasn't ready to except her aide. He didn't deserve it, not after all that he had done, and he would only accept help when he had paid his debt and suffered enough. She knew that, but she was determined to show him that he didn't have to condemn himself here, he could move on with his life. Hinata walked a little farther towards him each day and it was becoming increasingly obvious that he couldn't deny her soon; his mind was already working against him, sending him images of her that was slowly working its way into his soul. He was now walking with his two companions, men who used to loathe so much, but now he was finding a bond between them. Naruto looked out over the red, war torn horizon that rested beyond a desolate waste land that was like his soul, a large empty space. Moving carefully, he walked down the hill that was steep with jagged rocks that would poke at his ankles. One of the stones wasn't in properly and he slipped down the hill on his back, the jagged rocks tearing through his cloak, jacket, and his shirt to scratch at the flesh underneath. Before he could slide off the edge of a cliff like steep, someone grabbed his hand and pulled him to safety. As he regained his footing, he stood at his full height to greet his savior, but all he saw was her, the woman who had been following his shadow, the woman whose innocent eyes haunted his dreams as he longed to see them look the way they did that night when she was all his.

"Hinata," said Naruto in shock so it sounded more like a question than a statement. "I thought you were behind me, how did you get here before me?"

"I walked a bit when you slept so that I could be waiting for you," said Hinata as she turned him around and started to treat the cuts on his back. "You really hurt your back here, but I can treat these minor wounds since they look like they're healing anyway."

"No, I shouldn't have you dirty your hands with my blood," said Naruto as he got up and put his cloak on over his torn jacket. "Thank you for giving me the help I didn't deserve, but you don't belong here and I have no desire to return until I have atoned for my sins."

He was going to leave when she grabbed the sleeve of his coat and pulled him into her warm embrace that was so intoxicating that it brought tears to his eyes and he was also wrapping his arms around her. For so long, he had wanted to feel those arms around him, feel that redeeming embrace that was like a rain that purified him, leaving him the way he wanted, simple and clean. How long had he been there, waking up without her right next to him? It was days in hell, but days translated to hours in regular time, but to Naruto, it felt like an eternity that he spent without her warmth. He would have kissed her and he almost did as his face moved closer to hers and he could see the anticipation in her eyes for the feeling of his lips. Before they could touch, however, he pulled his face away and he tore himself away from her embrace.

"Naruto-kun, please, don't leave me," she begged as she moved to wrap her arms around him. "You don't have to live like this, you can come back to Konoha, to your friends, to me."

"I'm sorry, I really would like that," replied Naruto as he walked towards the horizon leaving only his footprints, his parting words, and the tears that fell from his eyes into the ground below. "I would like to return to you, but I cannot go while I still carry the weight of my sins."

He left her behind with only those words and the memory of his warmth to comfort her.

* * *

Naruto knelt down to touch the water, but found that it burned at the touch and he withdrew his hand before thoughts of jumping in and letting the acid burn at his body crossed his mind. A hand grabbed his shoulder as if someone was trying to prevent him from committing his act of torture and he knew who it was. His other companions were probably off sleeping or watching him from afar, but he couldn't be sure because he hadn't seen them for some time and he was getting dreadfully lonely. Even though he felt he deserved to be alone, he didn't want to be alone like he had been for so long and now she was so near that he was fighting the urge to wrap his arms around her. He needed to force the images of all the people whose deaths he had caused into his mind so he would be reminded of why he wasn't with her. It was hard, having something so close and not being able to taste it, but he felt he wasn't worthy of the taste. Most of the time he would just sit there and thoughts of her would drift back into his mind. The more she got close, the greater the urge to run was, but he was split between running towards her and running away from her, so he was stuck there between the two, not moving an inch.

"Why are you trying to help me," asked Naruto as he turned to look at her. "Why would you help a monster like me, who revels in betraying others and has betrayed so many countless times? What good do you see in me that I cannot see?"

"You say that you are a monster, but no one is born a monster," replied Hinata as she brought her hand to caress his cheek and he knees became weak. He couldn't run even if he wanted to. "It was the fault of my father and so many others in the village that you left the village that you had given so much love to, but it never gave you back any. Most people would have broken down and become a killer a long time ago, but you remained unbreakable and when you let people in, they took out their knives and started tearing away at your soul. IF anyone deserved so much love, it was you, but I was too shy and weak to give you that love that you deserved so much and I am also responsible for what happened to you. Then you were made a pawn in someone else's game, but in the end you chose to have your strings cut so that the ones you loved would live. In your life, you have done more good than bad and even now, you blame yourself for being controlled by outside forces that wished to break you. That is what I see in you, but I also see that same little boy who gave me the strength I needed to face my cousin."

"This little boy killed your cousin," replied Naruto as he looked at his hands.

"Even though you talked some sense into him, Neiji never could get over the hand that fate had dealt him. He lost his will to live a long time ago and when he fought you, he was only fighting for something that he didn't believe in and you were not the one he fought. He fought that thing inside of you, that snake that was manipulating you by twisting your misfortune and feeding off of it like a parasite."

There was so much that he wanted to say, but for one, he had not an answer for her and he was there before her, all those guards that he had put up now lay on the floor. There was so much that he would have done at that instant if a howl hadn't rung out ahead of them and the score of demons didn't swarm down to claim the prey that was in their territory.


	34. Past Transgressions

Chapter 34: Past Transgressions

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters of Naruto.

* * *

He looked at the couple that was fighting the demons, the same demons that he had to fight everyday and he couldn't help but wonder what the two were doing there. Neither of them deserved, especially the one in the orange and black jacket, even though he had killed the man who was watching him now, Naruto deserved to be in heaven. Then again it wasn't Naruto who had killed him that night, Sasuke Uchiha saw that look in his eyes, the look of a another man, that man he had seen taking away Naruto. That man who had so much power radiating from him that it made him hard to look at with how he pushed it out. Crawling down from the treacherous cliff that he was standing on, Sasuke moved to another edge to get a better look at the pair and as he got closer he could see that there was something different about Naruto. He didn't look like he normally did; he looked like he did when they had fought at the Valley at the End. Most of his body was surrounded by the red chakra surrounding him as if he were on fire and his scars looked more like the whiskers they were patterned after. The fingernails on his hand had elongated until they were sharp enough to cut something and he was using them to tear through the demons as the woman behind him knocked each demon pack with her fist. Looking down at them he realized that he couldn't run away from the person whose life he had ruined in his moments of disillusionment and Sasuke slowly made his way down the cliff.

* * *

The blood was splattered all around the room with scattered body parts making the whole thing look like some type of cannibalistic butcher shop. They all walked into the room cautiously, careful not to over look something that would prove to be a fatal error. Call it professional respect, but they were fighting ninja, as trained as they were, and they could easily find themselves in a world of pain and death if they took their enemy lightly. The leader of the squad positioned his team around the room so that they were able to secure every point of the room and hold it if necessary, but they neglected the possibility of an underground passage being used by the leaf ninja to ambush any enemies who went into the killzone. Captain Gin rested against the wall, catching his breath since he had lost all of it running from the hail of shuriken and kunai that had taken out the other squads. All that was left was for them to sit there and wait for the other squads of the second wave to come and provide back up, but captain Gin severely doubt that they were going to get any back up any time soon or if it did arrive, it would either be too small or too late.

"Man this was a crazy attack," said one of the chunin in the group who was getting his first taste of war since he was a genin during the sounds first attack on Konoha. Gin wasn't too happy about the plan thought up by the new regime, but still, he took orders without question and he would not have insubordination in his squad.

"Did I give you permission to bitch, chunin," asked captain Gin as he peeled himself from the wall that he had been leaning on before. "We have to take orders all the same and we do it without complaining."

"Even still this is a bit much," said one of the jonin, who had been hit in the leg with a shuriken. "Our first attack should have been followed by a summons like the last time we attacked Konoha, but now we got nothing except a support squad that will probably never reach us."

"Support will come in soon," shouted Gin as he glared at his subordinate. "This is war and we don't expect to kill a thousand of them for every one of us, we just plan to get the tactical advantage."

"Well so far captain we aint got shit," replied the genin just before he was pulled under the floor boards by a pair of hands, screaming as he tried to fight his way out, but all to no use.

"Everyone get out," shouted Gin as he slipped his hand into his shuriken pouch and waited for all of his men to get out, with the few who were pulled under. HE then made his way into the next room to find all of his men on the floor beaten and battered with a man standing in front of him holding a cudgel. He was big with spiky white hair that hung down past his shoulders and the marks on his face and his clothes made no mistake of who he was, the legendary sanin, Jiraiya.

"Can I accept your surrender," asked Jiraiya as he shifted to a stance of rest, as if Captain Gin was no threat and in truth he was sure that he was no match for Jiraiya and decided to throw down a smoke bomb and escape through the entrance. He made it half way before he felt something tiny and sharp stick him in the neck.

"Enemy subdued," said a female medic ninja with short black hair and that was the last thing that Gin saw or heard for a while.

* * *

Renji was always calm under fire and now he had to decide on how he was to divide his ANBU squads and for what mission while they were receiving retaliating fire from the sound forces. Taking a few members under him for a squad so he could try and sabotage enemy shuriken launchers (the weapons used in the first Naruto movie). Selecting the best members he had on him at the moment, he chose Kurohichi, Shino Aburame, and the Godaime's apprentice, Sakura. Taking them over one of the gates, he moved through the forest till he was at one of the enemy camps that had been destroyed before, most likely from Akatsuki or Mist attacks. Shino was using his kikaichu to observe the area around him and inform him of any enemy movement within a five mile radius. Kurohichi took point by going at the edge of the five mile radius and taking out any enemies he found on the way. Along the way, he was able to view the enemy's use of troops to attack at one point and determined to send a message asking that the summoners be ready in case of any summoning that would come from a different direction. He called one of his falcons to take the message and fly over to the Godaime's tent, which was most likely the medic tent.

"Any other movement detected," asked Renji over the communication radio.

"None so far," replied Kurohichi and he added, "I think the last ones were the ninja who were away from the camps when the attacks happened. They also seem to have the whole thing heavily guarded except for this spot, which you could break through with only a team of two."

"I see, well do what you do best and we'll provide back up," said Renji before he exited the radio com link.

"Understood," said Kurohichi with a smile on his face. He broke into a sprint as he rushed the guards that was standing out near the front of the perimeter the sound ninja had set up for their war machine.

The guard was yawning from boredom and didn't really know that Kurohichi had cut him until he put his hand up to rub his neck and felt the red, warm, sticky blood that was there. After that, the guard collapsed into the ground, which alerted some of his friends nearby. As they circled around the body to check it from all angles, Kurohichi dropped in the middle of them, crouching over the body and he didn't respond to them until they drew their kunai. In one fluid motion, he jumped up in a spinning motion and cut each of the guards with his kodachi. Then he rushed at top speed into the camp, getting about six feet from the machine and then he threw a few dozen explosive notes into the part of the machine that housed the metal, turning into a huge fragment explosive. The rest of the guards surrounded him and he slipped into a fighters stance, ready for whatever attack that would come a him next.

* * *

"Are you here for revenge," asked Naruto as he eyed the man who was in front of him, the brother he had murdered.

"No why would I be here for revenge when I should be coming to you for an apology," replied Sasuke, setting the piece of metal that he had in his hand. "I also came to see what you were doing here."

"Atoning for my crimes and you," replied Naruto as he took a good look at Sasuke. The man hadn't grown in facial hair or in his build; he still had that body of a frail young boy.

"I would be here for the same," said Sasuke. "What did you do?"

"Besides killing you I killed other people," said Naruto. "I didn't want to kill you or Neiji or Tenten, but something that bastard Sanjuro did to me, it affected my way of thinking."

"I know that," said Sasuke as he sat down. "But you had no choice in the matter and the other deaths were all out of necessity, a need to survive. You did nothing like I did."

"What did you do?"

"I abandoned my village," said Sasuke. "I gave it up, along with my home, my comfort, my heart, and my friends, all for something that turned out to be worthless in the end. This was the place I chose because I deserved this for everything."

"So did I," said Naruto as he sat down and looked at everything around him, stopping only on the woman who was resting with his jacket over her. "I killed Iruka, that girl, and Rock Lee."

"You had to," said a voice from behind them. It was Shenlong leaning on a sword that Naruto had never seen before. "My god both of you dumb asses sent yourselves here as a punishment that you didn't even deserve. Both of you are regretting what you did, but you want to hide from your true punishment."

"We're in hell," said Naruto as he looked at Shenlong like he was crazy. "What other punishment could be truer."

"Did you enjoy it, did you really enjoy it," asked Shenlong as he lit a cigarette and watched the match burst into flames. "Well that's not something you see every day."

"No," replied the both of them and they looked at each other.

"The both of you chose your crimes, now do you dare choose your penance," asked Shenlong before he held up his hand to stop them both. "Actually, why don't I do that since I'm the only one here with a working brain?"

"So what should I do to make up for it," asked Naruto.

"Never betray your village again," replied Shenlong. "Also, right now your village is under attack and we should be getting back. The one who is attacking is the same man who put that thing inside of you. Stop him and I'll call it even, okay?"


	35. Wolf on the River Sanzu

Chapter 35: Wolf on the river Sanzu

Disclaimer: I do not Own Naruto or the characters of Naruto.

* * *

The first wave of ninja was easily repelled by the volley of kunai and shuriken that had preceded the destruction of the gate, but the second wave was able to move through the bodies of fallen comrades that lay near them and they used kanton Justus to cause havoc. Using this havoc as a distraction, the sound ninja made their way to the edge of the first district and made sure that they had secured a foot hole in the first district. Normally summoners would be far away so they could summon from a safe distance, but Sanjuro figured that if he could force have the summoners come inside of the village and summon, they would have the tactical advantage of surprise. Such a use had never been heard of, but then again, Sanjuro was a leader who won his battles by making complex moves that his enemies would not understand. Even with the surprise, however, Konoha was able to repel the serpents that had been summoned with other summons and destructive jutsus. Things weren't looking all that well from where Tobi was standing, but then again, his ally in revenge was a complex man and knew how to grasp victory from the jaws of defeat. _Just like the F__irst_, thought Tobi, or that was the name he used. _Well he devised a way of getting rid of Naruto, thankfully, because that brat would have caused me trouble. Just like his father Minato did when he put the __Kyuubi__ in the kid and ruined my plans for __Konoha's__ destruction._

"Well what do you think Tobi," asked Sanjuro as he turned to look at his "friend." "Do I have a knack for picking good spots to observe things or what?"

"You also have a knack for acting like an overconfident asshole," replied Tobi as he removed the mask that was concealing his identity. "But I think you can call me by my real name now that we have nothing to hide and it is almost time for my grand entrance."

"Okay then Uchiha Madarra, what do you think about the spot I picked to watch everything," asked Sanjuro again, frustrated at not being answered.

"Well it would be good if it wasn't so close to everything," said Madarra with a smile. "My eyes could have seen this from twenty miles away, but you decided that we should have a headache from the sounds of people screaming their last scream."

"You know my eye sight can only see a foot ahead of me," replied Sanjuro as he brought his tongue out to scoop the scent of the air near him. That was how he could sense what was going on around him and that was why he preferred getting up close when fighting. "Besides, I thought that I should be ready to go in just in case we aren't winning the battle."

"It cost a lot to take out the rock village in under an hour; you knew things were going to go bad, you just want to play down your visual weakness."

"Well the best thing about the sounds of battle is helps to drown out your infernal bitching, which is reaching the peak of my nerves by the way. Yes I did know things wouldn't be going good for us, even if we did have surprise on my side. The only thing I want is to have them all throw their forces out so I can destroy them in one blow or at least severely cripple their forces."

"You might find your own forces crippled by this attack," said Madarra and then he looked at Sanjuro's right hand, which was on his sword. "So you planned to fight on the front lines and cause as much chaos as you can right?"

I know you have a sword under that cloak, along with your battle armor," replied Sanjuro smirking as unsheathed his sword. "Right now I can smell that Jiraiya is dead ahead, about two miles away and that Pein is exactly eight meters to the left. I'll take Jiraiya and you can take Pein."

* * *

The path to where they needed to be wasn't as treacherous as the other cliffs that they had climbed during their stay in Hell. The heat of the atmosphere was as intense two blazing suns, which was odd since it had been a regular temperature a few minutes before. Gaara was feeling the effects of the heat himself, but not as much as the other members of the group as they trudge on through the rock and red sand. Apparently, the closer to the exit you got, the hotter it was, or that's how it was according Bishamon. Bishamon seemed unaffected by the heat and humidity, much to the chagrin of everyone else. Okaims were unaffected by the heat, something that was the envy of all the foxes and weasel-dogs.

"So how long until we get out of this place," asked Naruto as he held his jacket over his shoulder. "If Konoha is at war then we must be late to do anything like a month ago, it's been over a year."

"No actually it's been say three days," replied Bishamon as he walked on, setting his foot on an even plateau. "The more you whine however, the more you and the others are going to feel that heat. If you just grin and bear it, the conditions will lessen to a significant degree, but if you bitch and moan like you're doing now, then I think Hinata might have to be walking to the exit in her bra."

A blush spread across Hinata's face as she pointed her index fingers together, a thing she hadn't done in years, and she looked at the black shirt that she was wearing. She had never thought to wear her summer clothes and she realized that she wasn't even wearing a bra. As soon as she realized that, Hell started to feel cold, and it wasn't just her, the whole group could feel it. While the men questioned how this happened, Hinata slipped on her jacket to cover her now erect nipples, but her jacket had been torn to ribbons by a demon and her need for something to bandage Naruto's cuts. She began to wonder if this part of Hell specialized in cruel jokes or could only torment one person at a time. The sound of Bishamon's footsteps stopping, brought her out of her ponderings and into a new chain of thought that was labeled in her mind under survivalism.

"Another one of those things we've been coming across," asked Kakashi as he pulled out his kunai and sword.

"It's something else, something familiar," replied Bishamon as he tried to remember where to place the scent he was catching, but it seemed to have been so long ago, in a time when he was still young and innocent to the world. "Strange that I should find you here, but I guess it was to be expected, since you always seemed to be the type to never say in one place, I knew our paths would have to cross somewhere in the afterlife."

"Well I thought you came here to seek me out," replied a figure in the shadows. From what Naruto could observe, he was as tall as Kakashi, but everything else was hard to see until he stepped into the light. "This is an odd reunion, don't you think that we should find each other in Hell, where only one belongs. I'd call this moment fate or what I imagine fate to be, but that is only secondary to the concern that I have now."

"I expect you mean to have a round with me then," said Bishamon as his hand went cautiously to the sword at his side, running over the pommel of the sword.

"Just who is he," asked Kakashi as he place the kunai back in its pouch and placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword.

"The one you see now is a man named Shingen," said Bishamon and then he added, "He is the one who instructed me in my swordsmanship as well as being the first man I ever killed."

"The one to the left, who is he," asked Zabuza as he pointed his heavy sword at the man standing on the rock. "He looks just like your teacher, are they related in anyway."

"His only son," replied Bishamon. "Second person I ever killed and probably my second greatest rival."

"Oh second," said the son as he walked to stand next to his father. "It seems I'll have to win that title back then."

"Every move on ahead, we'll follow," said Zabuza as he motioned for the rest to go on. Kakashi decided it wasn't the time to argue with him and went on his way, with the others trailing behind. "Whose way are we fighting? Your way or mine?"

"Well decisions are hard to make so let's just do both," replied Bishamon as he moved his blade so that he held it diagonally to his chest.

* * *

The cudgel moved in perfect unison with the sword, countering each blow with grace and mastery worthy of a legendary sanin. Jiraiya did his best to try and keep Sanjuro at a distance, noting how he seemed to swing wildly or go into the defensive when he was out of more than two feet. His cudgel was black with a gold band around the ends and it was as thick as a rice bowl. The sword was merciless in its attack on the cudgel as the two ninja fought for domination in their deadlock. Sanjuro thrust the sword at his opponent, but instead of just simply parrying the attack, the sanin disappeared into a puff of smoke and what was left was a log. _Brilliant use of something as kiddy as a __substitution _, thought Sanjuro. A dozen shuriken swarmed to kill him, but he was to quick with dodging them and then turned to block the attack from Jiraiya. Measuring his options, Jiraiya chose to use jutsu to defeat his opponent by first, turning the ground into mud that made it hard for Sanjuro to keep within what Jiraiya judged, was his visual distance and then he summoned a medium sized frog to lash out at Sanjuro with its tongue. To his great surprise, his opponent grabbed the tongue and pulled the frog towards him, forcing Jiraiya to send him back to his plain before Jiraiya could continue with his plan. That's when Sanjuro surprised him by drying up the mud so that he had a mostly even ground, taking away Jiraiya's plan of staying out of his opponent's visual distance. Sanjuro, for the most part, seemed to be unaffected by the amount of chakra and strength he had just sued, while Jiraiya was panting heavily.

"I would expect no less a fight from one of the legendary sanin," said Sanjuro as he put the blunt side of his sword over his shoulder. "If I didn't have the chakra of the eight headed serpent, this might have been very difficult for me, but I guess luck seems to have finally sprouted from having the demon inside of me."

"Was this all for revenge," asked Jiraiya as he looked at him, he was no longer that little boy who everyone scowled at, no longer the target for rocks that he had been.

"Haven't an answer for you," replied his opponent as he shrugged. "The only thing I worry about is how much I love to kill and the fun I gain from fighting worthy opponents."

Seeing no point in further conversation, Sanjuro brought his sword down only to be met with an axe, Tsunade's axe, the axe that she had carried into battle with her brute strength. Most of the people who saw the sharp edge of that axe never lived to tell about how it felt.

"Well did I hit the jackpot or what," cried Sanjuro as he jumped up and down in joy like a little kid who got what they wanted most on Christmas. "I get to kill two sanin and the Hokage at the same time! Oh this is just too good!"

"Actually I'm only making sure that Jiraiya doesn't get killed," replied Tsunade as she looked to see the ravens swarming above. "You real opponent will be here soon."


	36. Window into my Soul

Chapter 36: Window to my Soul

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

Moon light shined upon the floor where that pair of underwear sat torn on it's side, reminding Kurenai of the night before and the feelings of guilt rushed back into her as she thought of him. Sanjuro, the boy who she had tormented at an early age, leaving a cold, hollow empty shell of what was once a human being or at least that is what she had thought before the night before. Alone in the dark with only her memories, Kurenai held herself as she looked at the air of underwear that had been ripped from her body. Where was it all going? That was the question in her mind as she remembered the words he had used to describe her, redeemer and destroyer. His touch was soft and as gentle as those eyes which were full of hurt and inner torment, so different than the eyes he had shown her before, but still, which one was the real Sanjuro? Was there still a Sanjuro inside, or just a memory of the innocence that used to reside in that empty shell? One thing was for certain, he wasn't a hollow shell the night before. In fact, he felt warm.

**FLASHBACK BEGINS **

Another Konoha kuinochi lay on his bed with a horrified look transfixed on her face, her eyes so cold and empty, just like the man who had done that to her. Kurenai could look away from her torment as Sanjuro fulfilled his sick pleasures with her body before grabbing her throat and choking the life out of the young kunoichi. The thing she couldn't ignore as the sound of the young kunoichi begging for him to stop, but the sound that she wanted to drown out more than anything, was the sound of his voice. It was calm cool and sensual, as if what he was doing was consensual, but it was almost like the voice of another. The man with two eyes had two voices, one being his and the other being his burden. He'd wake up the next morning with his eyes and his voice, but when he came back from the battle field he always had the other voice, the voice of his burden. Not that day, that day, when he came back from the front, he had his own eyes and he spoke with his own voice. Obviously he didn't expect the girl to be still be lying there in his bed because he looked in disgust at the horrors that his other side was capable of. As soon as he saw her, he walked out of the room and got someone to take the body back to Konoha and to have the muscles on her face relaxed so his face looked less horrified.

"I see you have rare streak of kindness inside of you," said Kurenai cheerfully with a smile that was the first real smile that she had worn for days.

"I didn't want to have my sheets further soiled by that girl's dead body," replied Sanjuro as he lay down on the bed and she could see he had something on his mind. "What should you care about my "streak of kindness" anyway? You're just acting like that so you don't get the same treatment or you want me to spare your village. A futile effort to say the least since I don't have the ability to feel emotion thanks to you."

"Then why waste your time on revenge," challenged Kurenai as she got up from the cage that he had placed her in, right next to his bed. "If you have no emotion then you shouldn't feel any anger towards Konoha, but the act of revenge requires some kind of malice or else it will only be a half hearted effort."

"When you gave me that vision I was left there, stuck in my fears for a week," said Sanjuro, his eyes looked familiar to her. Like a the eyes of a freshly severed head, it looks like it still has some conscious thought behind it and you wonder if it's still alive. "I did everything I could to get out of that nightmare, even resorting to attempted suicide, but my wounds healed too quickly for me to die. I lay there, waiting for a merciful death that would never come. Do you know what it felt like, to be stuck in a life that isn't worth living? To be given something that you don't want and never asked for, but others blame you for having? It sucks more balls than a midget hooker, but then again, you don't understand pain like I do, you've never had a taste of it. Compared to the pain I felt, any of those hard times you had come to shit and you gave me more than the pain you had, but you took all the life I had in this body, leaving me with only memories of how I should feel. True, there is no emotion in my heart, but I can remember what it felt like and when I think about the things I felt during my short childhood, I wander if I even want to feel again."

"Say that as you might, I know you do feel something," said Kurenai as she looked at his eyes. For some reason it irked him somehow that he couldn't figure out why. "I know you want to treat me just like you did to that girl. You want to rape me and kill me, I can tell by how your body makes awkward movements sometimes when you are around me."

"I don't want that! He wants that, not me! I may have no emotion, but at least I'm not a monster!"

"Then why do you raise your voice now in anger if you cannot feel any emotion," asked Kurenai in a cool voice. You'd have never guessed the man she was talking to could rip the skin off her body. "Why don't you just tell me the reason that you act like you do when you're around me?"

Something inside of Sanjuro's mind snapped and before he knew it, he had flung himself off the bed and wrapped his hands around the bars of Kurenai's cage. Her expression was one of shock at the look in his eyes, a mixture of anger and loneliness, the ultimate suffering. Without a single word or sound, Sanjuro ripped the bars off in an impressive show of strength that Kurenai had never seen from him. Now the barrier that separated them had been taken down, leaving Kurenai to wonder what he would do or, more importantly, what she would do. Should she try to kill him as soon as he came close or try to fight him off when he came to rape her? Then there was the third choice, a choice that she had been leaning towards in hopes that she could ease the pain he was feeling because of her and maybe then, she could forgive herself for what she did. His hand touched her arm and pulled her close to him as she felt his lips touch hers, all the while she could tell that he was trying to be gentle. _What is he __planning in that mind of his_," thought Kurenai, but she was surprised to feel his tongue rubbing at her lips instead of forcing his way in like his other side did. _Does he want to have consensual sex or is he just acting like this so he could lure me into a false sense of security?_ Doubt on her mind, Kurenai broke away from the kiss and found that he didn't hold her in place or force her back to him, he just let her go.

"Why aren't you having your way with me," asked Kurenai as she took a step back. He was actually scaring her now. "I'm at your mercy; I couldn't even put a scratch on you even if I was armed, so why are you being gentle?"

"You've watched me sleep with his eyes and arrive at night with his voice. Tell me, in all of that time did you ever wonder why I did that?"

"When there is killing you let him out so he can use his power," replied Kurenai.

"Wrong! I bring him out in the night because I grow weak as I am at night. Do you know why?"

"It must take a lot to hold him back completely," said Kurenai looking down at her feet, but he forced her head up to look into his eyes.

"I grow weak at night because I am always plagued by the same nightmare," said Sanjuro before adding, "Your nightmare."

Whatever she might have said to him before was quickly forgotten and she stood there, not knowing what to say while he kissed her and held her close to him. She had no memory of wrapping her arms around him and kissing him back, but she did remember him picking her up and setting her down gently on the bed. She remembered the way he undressed her, taking each article of clothing off gently instead of ripping it off her body like his other side did when he had his sick pleasures with either one of his subordinates or a captured kunoichi. His touch was like heaven on little tips that ran all over her body and she could feel his lips on her body. The man who would destroy her village as soon as look at it was now pleasuring her and she was thanking him gladly for it. Then there was the one article of clothing that she still had on her, her underwear. He wasn't as gentle with them as he had finally reached his limit of patience. He wanted, no needed, to touch her everywhere and mark her right then and there. Grabbing one side, he pulled the article of clothing off her body and set his eyes over her naked form. He had taken off his armor and shirt before he even walked in the room and he could her hands rubbing all over his scars, some caused by his own hand. She helped him undress and she couldn't help but stare in wonder at the man who was now bare and naked to her, but still had so much power. Then he said it, the words that were the begging of her madness.

"I don't rape women," he said as he stared at her. "There is only one woman I would ever wish to do anything intimate with and I would never hurt her. After all that she did to me, even though she killed my emotion, she did everything she could to make it up to me, even taking me as a student for the two years that I was a genin. Trust was never established and even now I wonder whether I would ever trust her or anyone else, but I….love her. I love Kurenai-sensei."

There he was, his mask shattered as tears came to his eyes that fell down on her skin, warm as the way he felt right then. There he was, the man who was her enemy of her own creation, was now making love to her, thrusting savagely into while she moaned loudly. No matter how loud she moaned, she could never drown out the sound of his voice as he said those words, "I love Kurenai-sensei."

**FLASHBACK ENDS**

A sound brought her out of her recollections and she saw a woman working on the lock. She had long blue hair that was tied up like a geisha and wore an Akatsuki cloak like a kimono. Kurenai knew her as the woman who shared Sanjuro's bed often and from the description that was provided by the Akatsuki leader, Pein. Kurenai got up to see what she wanted, but she then saw that the woman was picking the lock.


	37. The Return

Chapter 37: Return

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters of Naruto.

* * *

Tsunade ran her eyes over the man who had just parried a sword thrust that had nearly skewered her, finding it hard to believe what that it was him. From the way he parried it to the way he gave a sadistic smile at his opponent, Tsunade knew that it was really him. She had really been saved by Orochimaru. She looked at his long, black hair that seemed to look like it glided with the breeze, his pale skin, and the natural grace of his movements as if he were some lord or daimyo. At his side was Jiraiya, a little rested and ready to go again. Without thinking, Tsunade took up her axe and got ready to strike and would have if not for Orochimaru putting his arm out in front of her, preventing her from moving forward. Questioningly, she looked at him and found that he was smirking at the man who was probably his natural enemy.

"Don't you want to take this bastard down," asked Tsunade as she eyed him suspiciously, wandering if this was really Orochimaru and she could see that Jiraiya was thinking the same thing. "He is practically your natural enemy, is he not?"

"Maybe, but someone else has an even deeper hatred than me," replied Orochimaru as he looked at the rooftop of a building that was surrounded by crows. "For now we might have another opponent to face."

As if on cue, Pein, the leader of the Akatsuki, stepped into view with a sword of his own, but right behind him was Uchiha Madarra, holding the strings to his puppet. Another footstep was heard behind the three and Jiraiya and Tsunade turned to see Naruto, his eyes looking like a mixture of the Kyuubi's and the Sharingan. His finger nails were like claws and the scars on his face looked more like whiskers. The ravens seemed to be getting more restless, as if they were waiting for someone to show up for the standoff and then they started to fly in a circle, one group going clockwise and the other going counter clockwise. Sanjuro was looking at the strange behavior of the ravens and then he noticed that the three sanin were smirking at him. It was something about their smiles that pissed him off to no end. That's when he started to notice that the ravens were getting closer to the ground and as if he were resurrected from the dead, the man Sanjuro had killed appeared out of the swarm of ravens. He was dressed in black, just like the last time the two had fought, black trench coat, black shirt, black leather pants and black boots to top it all off. The one thing different about the man was his sword; it was no longer the nodachi that he had used before, but a straight blade that was wide in the place where it curved to form the point. There was another man right behind him with a black sleeveless shirt and black pants. He had bandages around his mouth, a big sword, and a shit load of blood lust. Sanjuro smiled at the familiar face of Zabuza.

"So if the gang is all here then I guess we'll get things started," declared Sanjuro as he started spinning his sword by its hilt.

* * *

Anko waited for the sound ninja to cross into the area that she had rigged with explosive tags, waiting for the signal for her to begin her attack. When it did sound, she was running out there with a burst of adrenaline and threw shuriken and her special kunai at any enemy that got in the way. Most of the sound ninja were trying to get out of the large crater that had been caused by the explosion, crawling through the body parts of their comrades. Anko might have enjoyed watching them fumble through the gore with shocked expressions on her face if Kakashi didn't help her realize that it was just the pain that she experienced from never being trusted by the villagers that made her laugh. She just needed something to help her forget her pain. Her team had been given clear orders, kill anyone who stepped into their line of view, but she decided that she could leave some alive. Ibiki would tease her later, saying she had gone soft, but then again, maybe she had gone soft. It was just that little girl inside of her getting out and it was all because of him that she was able to act like herself and not try to be one of the guys.

One sound jonin had been suing the body of one of his comrades as a shield and then he disguised himself as a dead body, waiting for someone to come close. Anko wasn't fooled even though one of the jonin in her squad nearly walked into his trap. Luckily she stopped him from going any closer, but he knew that he had been discovered and used a sound jutsu to send out a certain frequency that cause Anko great pain in her ear. Using the distraction, the sound jonin closed in on her, kunai drawn and aimed at her midsection, but Anko quickly used a jutsu to block out the sound and summoned twin snakes from her coat sleeve. The enemy ninja spun around, avoiding the snakes, but he wasn't quick enough to deflect Anko's kunai and was stabbed in the chest. At first he didn't realize he had been stabbed, but as soon as the warm blood flowed down onto his hands, he knew that he would die soon and then the pain hit him. Mercifully, Anko delivered him from the pain through the coldness of death as she slid the kunai into the base of his neck and put into his skull. If she had just moved on she wouldn't have been surprised by the jonin who popped up onto her right side. He rushed her and she was just barely able to deflect his attacks, but he punched her in her side causing her to stumble forward in pain. He followed it up with one of his kicks, but she put her arms up to block it and pushed his leg back. It hurt like hell, but she was able to cause the jonin to lose his footing and she finished him off with a quick cut. The next ninja to come up wasn't much of a fighter and was taken out easily, but behind him was a swarm of enemies, so Anko decided to have her team back out. They had been ordered to harass the enemy, not make a stand against them since they were still stuck in the outermost district.

"Everyone fall back on me, we've done enough," shouted Anko over the noise of ninja dying and metal colliding. It was then that she saw the enemy commander walk out into her line of vision and she recognized him from one of the bingo books. Without a word he used a water style jutsu one the blood and sent it out in the form of a dragon. Anko jumped over it, but most of her squad wasn't so lucky and were swept of their feet. Even though Anko had dodged the attack, the S-class criminal was on top of her in a few seconds, using brute strength to knock her around a bit until she lost her footing. When she did fall back she saw the hungry look in his eyes as the criminal licked his lips and took out his kunai.

"I had heard rumors about your beauty and fighting skills," said the criminal as he bent over and pressed the kunai to her neck. "They didn't seem to describe you accurately enough, your much more than your legend and it will me such a pleasure raping you right here and now."

The man was going to say more, but he was interrupted by a hand on his neck that had a tight grip causing him to drop his kunai. He turned his head a little to see the eyes of the person who had grabbed his neck and he could see that one eye was a sharingan and his attacker had white silver hair that seemed to puff out into a spike. He knew who the ninja was and he knew that he was screwed already, because no one ever escaped Hatake Kakashi when he had them fully vulnerable. Around him were his his men getting slaughtered by murderous sand and a man with long black hair and a sword. The world seemed to spin around him and he felt his mind go blank.

* * *

"I hope you know what you mut do," asked the blue haired woman. Kurenai didn't knwo if she should trust her, but she knew that she would finally be helping Sanjuro escape from his madness.

"Yes and I knwo just the jutsu to use," replied Kurenai determined to use what Anko had told her about once. "I will kill Sanjuro-kun and myself along with him. I must atone for what I have done."


	38. Let's Go Together

Chapter 38: Let's go Together

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters of Naruto. Also, there are only two chapters left in this story.

* * *

Bishamon turned to face his opponent, the man he had been dying to meet, or more accurately killing to meet, for so long that the scent of blood lingered on him and no matter how much he washed, his wolf family could catch scent of it. Sanjuro was obviously only using the power of a four tailed demon before, but he knew that he would have to upgrade to the full eight tailed power if he wanted to have a clear dominance in the fight. He wouldn't do it because it would just mean that the battle would end all too soon for him and he knew that he could easily fall prey to the one jutsu that the Okami excelled in, the jutsu to cut off a tail, which could only be done by a seven tailed demon, but if would use up a healthy amount of chakra. The serpent in Sanjuro checked his options and found a healthy alternative to going all out, so he decided to separate himself from his body and leave one of his tails inside of Sanjuro's body, just in case his opponent used the jutsu. It was because of this, that he had to stay within a certain range of his host's body or else the connection would be snapped and his host must stay alive, because if he died, it would mean the loss of more than one tail. The death of the host would result in the loss of all of his tails, leaving him powerless before his enemy and in every single way imaginable, fucked. The chakra manifestation of the serpent wasn't that different from Sanjuro's own body, in fact it was modeled after his body in every aspect of height and difference.

"Well then I guess it's time to get started," said the serpent with a grin and his opponent nodded.

"Today is the day I send you to the eighth level of Hell where they put all of the rejected pieces of shit like you," said Bishamon with an intent to kill that was making the serpent's hand shake, but he loved facing an opponent with such hate and rage that he was licking his lips with anticipation.

Bishamon disappeared with a flash and reappeared right next to the serpent, kicking him in the side of the head. The serpent vanished and in his place was a log. Bishamon then turned to blosk the thrust of the sword that would have skewered him had he not heard it coming from a mile away. The serpent began lashing out at his opponent and then he started moving in wild, erratic movements that kept Bishamon guessing on what the next attack would be. After a few minutes of this, Bishamon figured he had had enough of this and started putting his strength into the deflections, causing the serpent to be taken aback and Bishamon then started going onto the attack, slashing in different directions and using kage bushin to appear and assist in his attacks. All while this was going on, the serpent was laughing, as if he derived some sick pleasure from all of this and in his mind, the serpent was thinking of different ways of getting back on the attack. Leaping a few steps back, the serpent spewed acid out of his mouth, causing Bishamon to end his relentless pursuit and was then forced to get out of the way of a katon no jutsu. He was then attacked by a kage bushin of the serpent and after he had disposed of that he had to dodge a hail of shuriken.

"I swear, you just got more fun when you died, will you die and become more fun each time," asked the serpent as he grinned sadistically at Bihsamon, who was moving in whatever direction he was forced to, just like a puppet, but Bishamon knew this and was waiting for the right moment to do something about it.

When the serpent dropped down to attack, Bishamon used an earth style jutsu to transform the ground that the serpent landed on into quicksand, but the serpent jumped in midair to avoid the quicksand and landed right into the way of Bishamon mud wall. The serpent burst through the wall and struck at Bishamon, only to find that it was a kage bushin and a fist in his stomach. The serpent stumbled back into a tree and was continuously pummeled into the tree by a barrage of kicks. Most of the movements were predictable and sloppy with blind rage or at least that's what Bishamon wanted the serpent to think, but he was doing it all intentionally so that he would give the serpent the illusion that he could be easily controlled. When the serpent tried to lead him on and Bishamon just jumped back and used a katon no jutsu that burned off the shield that. Without his shield, Sanjuro thought that it was time for him to get serious, so he then used one of a summoning jutsu to conjure up a large snake that would have swallowed Bishamon whole, if he hadn't jumped on the snake's back and ran right down it, dragging his sword along so that it tore up along its scales. The serpent himself was standing near the tail of the snake and as soon as he saw Bishamon running over one of the hills of the snake's body, the serpent broke into a sprint with his sword sticking out. They met with a roar of thunder as their chakra met with the clang of metal, their powers cutting loose on the earth as a crater formed around them and the snake's body was disintegrated. Then Bishamon pulled his sword off and made another strike and was followed by a counterattack, each blow looking as if it were slower than it actually was until no one could see anything that they were doing. They moved around like flashes of lightning only meeting when one had gotten a hit on the other and all those who were still fighting stopped to observe the strange occurrence that was happening as if it were a natural phenomena that happened as often as a shooting star landing on the earth. Bishamon then used his chakra to turn his sword into a spear and when he thrust, ice shot out of the spear and the serpent was forced to dodge the attack and was caught into the earth dragon jutsu that Bishamon had put in dormant and he had just called upon.

The serpent was thrown forward and into Bishamon's fist only to disappear in a puff of smoke and come out of the ground, stabbing Bishamon in the side. He did not know the reason Bishamon didn't just parry the thrust, but then again, he was too caught up in the battle to notice that approaching Sanjuro, was Kurenai. Her every step was carefully made so as not to give up a sound and she made each hand seal only waiting for the last hand seals that he would have to make, but only if he wanted to and she was sure that he wanted it as much as she did.

"I love you Sanjuro," said Kurenai with tears in her eyes at the boy she had tortured was now the man she was trying to save, the man who loved her. She had lost Asuma and had been parted from him, but she didn't want to be parted from another man in her life. "If you wish to end all of this, you can come with me into the absolution of death, hand in hand."

"Yes, Let us go together," replied Sanjuro as he performed the last hand seals and sent them both into the deepest of sleeps, the eternal rest. Of course, this left the serpent powerless as all of that power followed the host into death, leaving him with nothing and the exhaustion of battle had finally taken it's toll as he fell to his feet.

"Well, it looks like my fun has just begun," said Bishamon as he put the blade to the serpent's neck, his eyes striking terror into the serpent. Now he finally knew fear.


	39. Final Battle

Chapter 39: Final Battle

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters of Naruto. Second to last chapter.

* * *

He just stood there as he looked at them with cold spiral like eyes that were like an abyss and he waited for them to make their next move. It was Tsunade who went first with her axe as she came in for a low sweep, which he jumped over only to meet Orochimaru's sword, which he deflected, but he could not block the last attack from Jiraiya, who hit him in the back with his cudgel. Pein let out a grunt of pain before spinning in a clockwise direction with his sword out, pushing the sanins back before he shifted into a fighting stance. A breeze passed them, marking the period of calm before Pein decided to take the offensive, lashing out at one after the other so they couldn't predict where or how to counterattack him. It was then that Jiraiya thought to summon a toad to jump down on him, but Pein easily cut the toad in half and blocked Tsunade's punch. They were more dangerous as he thought they would be, clearly they had gotten stronger than the time they fought the previous leader of the Hidden Rain village. Something about them was just so awe inspiring to watch them fight as a trio, each attack in perfect synchronization. Pein then thought that maybe it was time to use his other tactic and he bit his thumb to summon Raiden, of the thunder. This was the ace in the hole that he used when he was fighting the Leader of the Rain, but it was also a double edged sword, because the more he used Raiden, the more strain it put on his body. One day his body would eventually crumple in on itself, he would just have to pray that today wasn't that day.

"Raiden, go bring me their corpses," said Pein as he decided to lean against one of the buildings near him. Raiden didn't move an inch from where it stood, instead it looked at another man standing on the roof top. The man had silverfish white hair that spiked to the left and his head band seemed to hold it up. The man was in an ANBU black ops uniform and had a blue blade that seemed to have no point and was more than likely used to cleave people.

"Don't worry about this Kakashi, we have things under control," said Tsunade as she waved him away. Instead of leaving Kakashi just jumped in front of Tsunade and pointed at the thing that Pein had called Raiden.

"I think I'll take the big thing over there and you can take Pein," said Kakashi as he started to walk forward, but he stopped as he felt another presence from the shadows. "Not this time Anko, I must face this thing alone; you can go and help Tsunade-sama out or find some other fight."

"I want to make sure that you don't die," said Anko as she walked to stand right next to him, her special kunai and kodachi in her hands. "This fight we do together and don't you try to give me that macho, man-to-man fight bullshit because I am not losing you to anybody."

"Fine then," said Kakashi in a smooth manner and then he charged the creature known as Raiden.

Raiden stood at the same height as Kakashi, but its arms were long enough to drag on the floor and each hand had razor sharp claws. Its teeth were like nails that stuck out of its mouth and its legs were bent backwards like an animal. When Kakashi attacked it with its sword, it simply knocked the blade aside and went for Kakashi with the other claw. Kakashi, in turn dodged the attack and cut low as Anko threw an explosive tag right at its skull, but its body flared up with electrical energy that blocked both attacks. It then moved in a spinning motion as if to cause a hurricane and it then stopped to attack Anko, which in turn, caused Kakashi to come to her defense. Raiden wanted Kakashi to do that so it could then use its left claw to back hand Kakashi, sending him into a tree. Kakashi rebounded from the tree and charged up a kunai with electrical energy, while the creature just laughed at Kakashi's attempt to use electricity. When it flared up its electrical barrier, Kakashi had it caught in his trap, and he unleashed a wind jutsu that he had copied once from Asuma. It sent out a various cutting wind that could only be seen by the trained eye, but something such as Raiden would only see a gentle breeze coming from Kakashi's sword, which had no effect on the monster. Kakashi knew that it had fallen for his ruse when it laughed allowed and took a step towards him, not noticing the other winds coming right at him. His electrical barrier was laid to waste and soon Raiden found itself weakened by the use of electrical barriers.

"I win," said Kakashi as he put his odd sword at the monster's neck.

* * *

Jiraiya wasn't thinking when he decided to rush into the fight with Pein and now, with how tired he was and how much blood he lost, he was hallucinating that his old student, The Yondaime, was actually there in front of him. Though it seemed at first ill omen that he would see his dearly departed student now, Jiraiya realized it as a sign of change, he would have to do something that h had promised the Sandaime he would not do. It would mean his death and the use of something so controversial to most, with the exception of Orochimaru, but Jiraiya was certain that he had to use the forbidden jutsu, the Resurrection jutsu. Unlike Orochimaru's dark resurrection jutsu, this one would bring back the person he wanted exactly as they were before, able to do whatever they wanted and not what they were told. The person resurrected would be resurrected with their soul as well, but it would cost the user his life. Life was a funny thing in how ironic things were, especially with every sanin using the forbidden jutsu they were sworn not to use, but in Jiraiya's opinion, this was a matter of morality and the greater good.

* * *

Each sword connected with a clang of metal that sounded like lightning and the sounds of each grunt of each cut, was like a break in the sound barrier. Naruto and Madarra were moving past the sound barrier, fighting up in the air on the ground where ever the fight led to they went and in their wake they left people in a state of shock. Each jutsu was a work of tactical genius and the swordsmanship was a sight of mastery. Naruto was using a sword that he had been given by Kakashi, who had received it from Naruto's father the Yondaime., and he used it as if it were the most natural thing to him. Every trick he performed with it was flawless and he was putting his own wind chakra into it as the sword looked as if it were made for the wielder to put their chakra into the sword. Madarra, on the other hand, hid himself in illusions and he would attack from them, causing Naruto to use his sharingan heavily. Not that it was affecting Naruto in the slightest, since he did have the limitless chakra of the Kyuubi.

**FLASHBACK BEGINS**

Naruto heard the Kyuubi's footsteps stop and he turned to see why they would stop and as he saw the Kyuubi, he saw something in his eyes, something that made Naruto rather sad. It was an odd thing to watch him because there was the Kyuubi, the reason of his unhappy childhood, and he suddenly began to realize what was going on. The reason of his free will of being able to leave hell and the afterlife altogether was finally there in front of him, he was able to do all of that because he wasn't the one that died. The Kyuubi had given up his own life so that Naruto would be able to leave hell and return.

"Well I suppose this is where you and I part," said the Kyuubi as he started to stretch his arms. "It's going to be good not being stuck in that damn cage anymore, my god was it cramped in there, but then again I was in your brain and I guess everything must be short in there."

"Why did you do that," asked Naruto as tears started to stream down his cheeks. "You could have just lived outside of me and have been free to do whatever you want."

"You assume that I wanted to go back to a world that has so much killing and bloodshed," replied the Kyuubi. "I don't particularly enjoy mindless slaughter and after living with it, I thought that maybe if I died I would be free of that shit. It had nothing to do with any care about whether you live or die, because now you will have everything I had while I was alive. Enjoy the headache, kit, and have a good life being with the ones you love."

He then left with Sasuke following him, both being dead and not allowed back in the world of the living. There he was again, crying alone for his brother and the fox that had become his friend, but unlike the last time, there was a hand to place on his shoulder and comfort him. Right next to him was his person to love, his shoulder to cry on, his person to laugh with, Hintata Hyuuga.

**FLASHBACK ENDS**

Madarra put them both into another world of illusion, surrounding them with a dark night and the screams of people. Here, the winner was the person who had the ability to sense the other and Madarra was sensitive to chakra levels, especially Naruto's off the chart chakra level. It would be game over before Naruto knew it as Madarra rushed at him with his sword in a cutting stance. It cut Naruto in two, the upper half with a shocked expression on his face and blood spurting all over the Uchiha, but something wasn't right. The cut could have been blocked with Naruto's speed or just a quick burst of wind chakra, but it wasn't and now he was left to wander who had put who into an illusion. The answer came when his world of shadow dissipated around him and there was Naruto with the sword pointed at Madarra's heart. A laugh entered the air, but Madarra wasn't sure whether it was Naruto who had laughed or if it was himself, the only thing that was on his mind was that he had been bested in illusion, an area that he was supposed to be unrivaled in.

"I suppose that you are the new wave of the future that has so been described," said Madarra as he chuckled, taking off his mask to reveal his face, so much like an Uchiha's almost blank expression. His spiked hair was a bit of an abnormality with the Uchiha since they mostly had strait hair. "You know, I was first bested by the sword, but my genjutsu was something that no one, not even Itachi, could best. Seeing someone best me with it and not be among the Uchiha is a bit of a shock and maybe an upset, but I guess I must take thing the way they are. The irony of the whole thing being that I was the one who summoned the Kyuubi to destroy this village as vengeance, but it seems that in doing so I have created my superior in genjutsu."

"Tell me, did destroying Konoha mean that much to you," asked Naruto.

"No, actually it was only something that had meant everything a long time ago," replied Madarra. "So in trying to gain what I thought mattered, I lost everything that did matter. For some reason, that seems so funny."

* * *

The man carried Jiraiya's dead body back to Konoha as the news of the death of the leader of sound was being celebrated by people around him. The other two sanin, Kakashi, and Anko, followed him to be placed in the place for those who had been killed in action. Everyone around them were too busy celebrating victory to notice the man carrying Jiraiya, the Yondaime. 


	40. This is How it All Ends

Chapter 40: This is How it all ends

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

It was all over, the war, the exile, the sadness, and the rain, all of those things had stopped Konoha, leaving it as it was before calm in the wake of a war torn world filled with cruel people. Konohamaru could sense something different about the village that he belonged to as he walked through it, noting the sun light that seemed to light up the once dim homes that aligned the streets of Konoha. One could observe the return of Konoha's innocence and the return of the rightful heir to the Hokage name. The streets, though filled with puddles of water and blood, were crowded by people cheering the returning hero, leaving only a few to mourn the fallen sanin. They would be notified of it soon, but right now, it was time for everyone to be happy and cheerful that the war was finally over and the sun had risen over Konoha. The three people stood in mourning of their fallen friend, the Yondaime, Orochimaru, and Gamabunta, all three of them were linked to the one man, but now their paths had diverged for a time. Gamambunta had used a jutsu to change his size so as not to draw attention to the unknown funeral.

"Had a good friend in him," said Gamabunta as he smoked his pipe. "It's gonna be odd now that he won't be the one to summon me, but it will be odder now that I have to call the kid boss."

"Well we will one day hopefully see him again someday," said Orochimaru as he looked over to the Yondaime. "What do you intend to do about your sudden resurrection from the dead? Are you going to meet your son or just watch over him for the rest of your life or his, whichever death comes first?"

"Maybe I will tell him, someday, but not right now," replied the Yondaime as he walked away from the grave. "For now I can only wait in the shadows which call for me. I better leave before the others see me."

The a strong gust blew leaves over the grave as the Yondaime left, each leaf falling back on the silent grave that lacked the arms to catch them and stop them from falling. Such event marked the passing of one of Konoha's sanin, but the fate of the other one was something that was yet to be determined. Orochimaru, back from the dead and in the village that now hated his every breath, but there was no other place he would rather be. He would be pierced by a thousand kunai, just to be close to the woman he loved, Tsunade. His platinum blonde that had so bewitched him that she haunted him even in his waking moments as he felt the phantom touch of those arms that held him, those lips that caressed his own that one night, when she was all his. Oddly enough, the village was hailing his return, denouncing his behavior before as the work of an imposter and clearing him of all charges that met him. Something round and warm touched his back and he turned to see her, Tsunade, standing there in front of him with eyes that were dazzling, like the full moon light in the calm of a stormy night.

"Well," said Tsunade as she crossed her arms. "Aren't you going to accept the welcoming party or do you wish to offend the people who are asking you to come back?"

"Welcoming party is that a soft word for interrogators," laughed Orochimaru as he brushed his hair to the side a bit. "You can't mean that the people of Konoha are actually welcoming back the man who killed the sandaime?"

"You didn't kill him," replied Tsunade as she pushed him towards the oncoming parade, but she did so with more strength than she intended to use causing him to run into a door. "Oh sorry! I didn't realize I pushed that hard!"

"Its fine, Tsunade," replied Orochimaru as he shifted one of his teeth in his mouth. It hurt like hell, but with his metabolism, he'd grow another one soon enough. "I think I might have to get use to being seen as a hero in Konoha."

* * *

Naruto started to sign the paper with detailing his every crime and killing while he was part of the Akatsuki and then presented it to Tsunade and the council before Bishamon came to snatch up the paper and lit it on fire. Whatever he did before was now forgotten and he could resume his place as a shinobi of Konoha. He walked out of the council chambers and walked into the estate of the long forgotten Uzumaki clan, a building not unlike the Uchiha compound except for its grand structure that was early Japanese imperial architecture. Most of those who were inside of the building were the ANBU that guarded the estate or his friends who were helping him move into the new surrounding, which was larger than his old apartment. Missing from the crowd of friends was Hinata, who was checking into all f the Hyuuga affairs, including the funeral of Neiji, which was delayed until Hinata herself could see her cousin off. With the permission of Tenten's parents, Hinata had the two buried together so that even in death they were never apart. In the end, it was Neiji's request that Gai and Lee be reburied with the couples, the whole team together even in death. Naruto couldn't help but observe the negative effects of all that he had done, but he had made a promise to his friend, Sasuke, to never look back on the past.

He sat down in the large garden of his estate with a flute in his hand and he looked at all the statues and murals that decorated the garden. It was Kakashi who told him that his father's favorite place was near the fountain and the flute was the same one that his father would play to his mother when they sat there, talking about poetry while they blocked out all the troubles of the outside world. This place was his father's escape from it all, but his father could have only done so with his mother and Naruto was in this safe haven with no one else. In the end, he only got back to where he started, alone.

"I see you've found my favorite spot," said a voice from the tree that caused Naruto to look up while his hand went for a kunai. In the tree stood the man he only knew from pictures and the large rock carving in the mountain.

"I was told there was a sacrifice Jiraiya made, but he never told me what sacrifice it was," said Naruto as he sat back down by the fountain. "I'm guessing it was you who defeated Pein and you who summoned Gamabunta into this world."

"Yes I did do those things," replied the Yondaimes as he stretched out. "But I haven't officially returned yet, since it would be chaos in the streets if it were let out that I returned from the dead."

"So just what are you going to do now," asked Naruto as he turned to stick his hand into the fountain.

"Watch over you through your life, like I wished I could have done years ago," replied the Yondaime as he stood up on the tree branch. "Since I'll be watching over your life, have a good one."

"How," asked Naruto very softly as he looked as if he was in despair.

"Start by letting her into your heart and not letting her go."

Before Naruto could ask for anything else, his father was gone, leaving behind a gust of wind and a question in Naruto's mind. What did his father mean? He played his flute as he tried to find the answer to the question. The answer was given to him when he heard faint timid footsteps behind him causing him to turn and view the shy woman who had stolen his heart.

"You play very well Naruto-kun ," she said as she took a step towards him and she felt his arms around her as he brought his lips to hers. The sound of a flute playing could be heard close by.

* * *

"How many times must I say sorry till it's enough," asked Bishamon as he chased after Yuki, who was pissed at the fact that he was alive and didn't tell her.

"When I feel like forgiving you," replied Yuki, her voice dripping with anger. "Do you realized how many months I grieved while you were gone."

"It was only been like three weeks since I died," said Bishamon as he cocked a brow towards her.

"That was still a long time to grieve!"

"Look I just needed some time to make sure that most of my enemies were settled," explained Bishamon as he ran in front of her and dropped to his knees. "For the longest I've had those who would use you to get to me, but now I am certain that I have something that I can do this and not have to worry about my safety."

"Shen…Bishamon, what are you asking," asked Yuki as she stared questioningly at the man on his knees.

"Will you marry me, Yuki-chan," asked Bishamon right before she jumped on him, hugging him.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata lay in the garden, not knowing that two couples were getting married soon (Kakashi asked her during the victory parade), but it didn't matter to them. All that did matter was the present and the future, that was brighter than ever.

**END OF DOWNWARDSPIRAL**

* * *

Author's note: I had so much fun writing this fan fic and getting all those reviews. I would like to thank everyone who ever reviewed even if you stopped reviewing or you got caught up in something and I would like to know if anyone has a request for a fan fic. 


	41. Bonus Chapter Darker Naruto

Bonus Chapter 1: Darker Naruto Missions

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I don't know how many wish I owned Naruto. I'm adding these chapters because I forgot to mention that time passed between, major events, like this one would go between Naruto leaving and that first mission that I wrote. This is his first mission for the Akatsuki. Becasue of that, this fan fic is now still in development.

* * *

The man with long blue hair played with the kunai in his hand, twirling it through his fingers as the sunlight hit the trees above him and bounced off of the autumn leaves looking like a tree on fire, but it was still so damn cold in the area they were in. It was autumn, which meant they had to pile wood on top of each other and light it so that they could have some warmth, the man and the other three who were there with him. The man wore a black cloak with red cloud on it that he wore opened with a string across it so he could rest his arm when he got lazy, and on his feet were boots usually used for samurai armor, but he complained when tuff terrain destroyed his sandals. His sword was resting two inches from his hand and he could close the distance to it in one fifth of a second, which made some a bit wary of him, like Itachi who could sometimes be a bit unnerved by the unpredictability of Sanjuro, even though he kept it hidden. Right now, the blue haired man named Sanjuro, was eating some of the deer he had hunted from the forest, but no one else wanted any. Naruto was eating ramen silently, while Itachi and Tobi just had the rations that they brought with them, since they would go to waste if not eaten.

"So when will I be meeting this Pein," asked Naruto as he looked up from his ramen and broke the vow of silence he had apparently token sometime ago, but he could see that there was more to his journey there than they had said.

"Calm down for a second, Naruto-san," said Sanjuro as he took another bite of the deer meat. "You need to be patient about these things, if you rush them then something bad will happen and then you'll have only yourself to blame for that. Besides, we have to do a mission, an assassination mission that we were hired for and he wants to see how far you can go."

"So what is this mission," asked Naruto as he set his ramen down and took out one of the kunai from his pouch to test how sharp it was. "I want to hear every part of this mission and not the bullshit that you'd give someone when they have to do more."

"Business deals are always a source of bad blood and as such, we love business men because they bring us money," said Sanjuro as he got into a salesman voice. "We do a lot of deals with business man no matter the business; we take the jobs only if they can come up with the right amount of ryo to pay for it. This mission is one of those, since we do have a country to support supposedly, but I haven't seen that much money coming for me."

"That's because you're being lazy about your missions, Sanjuro," said Itachi as he loked away from the glaring man and towards Naruto. "Naruto, our mission is to kill a certain business man while he tries to make his way through a pass near here with one of our own members. A man named Boraicho, who has gone rogue recently so he can take all the profit and as such has been put on our death list so he won't be around that much longer and so our mission is to also kill him as well. We'll take Boraicho and you can take the target."

"Okay then," said Naruto.

* * *

Tobi, or should I say Madarra Uchiha, took a look at Sanjuro who only gave him a slight smile before signaling that they shold both depart into the woods to decide what to do with the change of events. Neither of them knew of the intention to bring the prison for the nine tails into the Akatsuki, but it was just as well since they could easily do so much with the boy if he could be put under their control somehow or if he sided with them. Madarra played his part as Tobi too well and made everyone think he was useless, while Sanjuro just played his part as a thug just wantingto get his kicks real quick just as well so that no one believed that either of them was secretly playing the Akatsuki behind their backs. It was just another power play that they knew of in the Akatsuki, but then again, the temptress that they had left with Pein kept him blind from any of it, only allowing him to see it when the fourth party had become a problem. Right now they had to make a decision on what was to be done with Naruto. Should they try persuading him or use another method like one of Sanjuro's abilities, which was used mostly by Orochimaru, to put a bit of himself into a person and let that bit slowly eat away at a person's will until they could be easily controlled.

"Well I don't see any problem going with your plan, I'm just wondering what you plan to do with Itachi," said Madarra as he leaned against a tree and sighed that he would have to harm or kill one of his own clansmen. "We could try and get him on our side since he doesn't really work for them for their ideals, just so that he could have some place to stay. We can easily offer him that."

"He wouldn't go with us because he knows that we're a lot more dangerous to his goals than Pein," replied Sanjuro as he smoked on the pipe that he brought along with him. "We may just have to wait and if he seems to be a thorn in our side, we'll take measurements to remove that thorn from our side."

The carriage that Takiro was traveling in was painted with camouflage colors and the men around the carriage in case of an assassin, but they weren't as trained as any of the assassins that were coming for their employer. Boraicho was looking out around the horizon for any signs of the Akatsuki members that he knew were coming for him. Boraicho was a man with a flat top of white hair and was a bit muscular, but had too much of a stern face so that he always looked angry. In fact it was Sanjuro's common joke that he was always angry because he wasn't as good looking as half of the Akatsuki members. He figured that they were safe when the sun started to go down, but as soon as he relaxed his guard, there was a giant water summons that was in the form of a dragon missile coming right for the carriage and he knew who is was that was and it also helped that a certain someone was singing Rob Zombie as he charged down the mountain.

"Dead I am the one," sang Sanjuro as he ran down, killing two of the guards. "Exterminating son, slipping through the trees, strangling the breeze. Dead I am the sky, watching the angels sky. While as they slowly burn conquering the worm."

As soon as he had killed another guard, Itachi appeared from the rear taking out two guards with a kunai and then moving slowly towards Boraicho. There was no emotion on his face, which even thought terrifying, was more pleasant to see than Sanjuro's depraved smile that made his gut go cold.

"Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches and slam in the back of my DRAGULA," sang Sanjuro as he moved forward with the sword to cut two guards in half.

Boraicho ran left as he saw that the one guarding the left was the seemingly useless Tobi and he always figured that his two daos could move fast enough for him to kill the rookie. Much to his surprise, Tobi was in fact, able to parry the attacks and moved his sword with greater skill and speed than what Boraicho thought possible. Using his earth style jutsu, Boraicho shot out spikes to kill TObi, but the Akatsuki member jumped back in time to avoid them and jumped forward to cut through them and nearly cut through Boraicho's neck as well. Most of the people who fought him were always killed by that little trick, but those in the Alatsuki knew of this trick and were able to avoid it if he ever tried using it on them. Without so much as second thought, Boraicho began to move in a lotus dancing sword attack, but each stroke of the sword was parried masterfully by Tobi, a feat which did not escape the attention of Itachi. Wanting to end it quickly, Sanjuro came in from behind and cut off Boraicho's legs while Tobi took off the rogue member's head and let it roll away to the approaching predators of the night.

"I wonder how Naruto-san is doing," said Itachi as he walked towards the carriage, which was very large.

* * *

Naruto walked past the bodies of the guards, who weren't dead just very wounded or unconscious from the sleeping smoke, that Naruto had thrown in. Unlike Sanjuro, he didn't take any unnecessary lives since he only needed to kill one man and not any others. To his surprise, the business man turned out to be a large muscular man with an axe that he swung at fast speeds, but Naruto could still move faster and had a lighter weapon so he could easily doge the attacks and he was soon behind the man with a kunai to the target's throat.

"Sorry about this, but it's just business," said Naruto as he cut the man's throat.

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How was it? Was it good? I plan to make more of these so tell me what you want to see more of. 


	42. Origins of SHenlong part One

Bonus chapter2: More Stuff

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, which means that this fan fic done for non-profit reasons. Please review. This takes place before the Downward Spiral and details the time when Shenlong was an experiment and weapon in Orochimaru's hands.

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The boy woke up from his deep sleep to find himself surrounded by white walls on each side and behind each wall was a cold plate of pure metal that he knew he couldn't break through, but as soon as he found he could move his body he went straight for that metal plate. After a few hours the boy began to tire out and was slumping against a wall, all the while his eyes were trailing to a certain spot in the ceiling where a camera was tracking his every movements, but as to who was watching the camera, he did not know. Then, suddenly, the boy could barely hold his eyes open as he felt an all familiar drowsiness that he had felt when he first went to sleep, only to wake up in the cage that he was in now. The boy had short blonde hair that he kept cut short so he didn't have a large afro that he would have to take time and effort from his busy schedule to maintain it perfectly.

Also, he cut it short because someone had once told him that long hair could get in the way during combat, but the boy could neither tell if it was his father or someone else. The only face he remembered was his mother, the way her eyes looked so calm and peaceful as the blade went farther into her chest, robbing her body of the life inside until it was just a cold lifeless doll in a puddle of blood, her blood. That was the night that he lost everything, including any memory of who he was or even his own name. He had to take the name of sword so that he had something to go by when he carved his name into the bodies of bandits. Those skills must have gained the attention of someone, but he didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. He'd find out soon enough though and soon enough he would know a new meaning for the word pain.

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"He seems to have a lot of power, Orochimaru-sama," remarked the researcher as he looked at the long black haired sanin that stood right next to him, his snake-like eyes focused on the TV screen for the room. "Just look at the mark he left on the metal in his rage, not even concentrating on how he used his chakra: the boy broke through ninety percent of the metal sheets and if he had any more power he would have broken free."

"I'm well aware of that and if you ever tell me to look as if you could give me an order, then I will include you in his tests," said Orochimaru with a very dangerous smile on his face, "And I can assure you that the terms on which you'll be put into his tests will not be very pleasant for you."

"Yes sir," gulped the frightened researcher as he returned to the screen and saw how the boy was asleep when the guards came in and took him out of the room and he couldn't help, but feel a little sympathy for the boy. "It's too bad that you'll have to go through the pain, but if all goes right you'll be stronger for the whole experience and you'll have more power for it all."

_

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Who am I_, thought the boy when he first gained consciousness. _Shenlong is the name I have chosen for myself and so that is who I am, Shenlong. _

The boy couldn't see much since a very bright light was blinding his green eyes as he tried to move, but he found that his arms and legs were bound to a cold table and he could see that he had on only his shirt. He looked from side to side to see a bunch of writings, a few medical tools and a myriad of interesting machines with unknown purposes, but Shenlong didn't think that it was worth asking if they might answer by testing them out on him. Around him were five men in white that were constantly examining him and sometime drawing on his skin with a magic marker, but they had never taken out a knife and started to cut into the skin. Something inside of Shenlong was screaming danger as they began to make even more writings on his skin and wrote down things on a notepad, all the while their activities were being observed by another person with the most terrifying eyes Shenlong had ever seen. Nothing about the watcher seemed human and the watcher seemed to smirk at this as he ordered the men in white to get to work and that's when he realized what was about to learn what those tool were used for, a bit too close for comfort though. Shenlong thrashed against the restraints, but as he tried to get away he felt the all familiar sense of drowsiness hit him and he was soon asleep.

A few minutes later he was awake, but to his horror they were far from done as they started making further incisions into his insides, cutting way muscle as they reached the inner organs. He could see everything they were doing, feel every blade that cut into him and the blood that rushed out of him, but at the same time he couldn't move his body to stop them, they had paralyzed him earlier, but they decided that keeping him asleep during the whole process was meaningless. The pain was indescribable as everything seemed to drag out into eternity and the machines that they had brought along only intensified the pain a thousand times over before he felt his consciousness waning until soon he was numb to everything they were doing. The one thing that kept him from passing out were the snake eyes that watched him with keen interest until they seemed to be finishing up on the surgery and then he saw the blood that was being poured over his organs and then they forced it down his throat, the taste somehow tasting as sweet as dango, which he found was his favorite candy.

"It is all prepared for the finishing touches, Lord Orochimaru," said one of the researchers as he turned to look at the watcher. The watcher then started to do certain hand signals before placing a hand over Shenlong's stomach and then the shock of the pain made Shenlong lose consciousness.

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When Shenlong finally gained consciousness he found that he was completely in the dark as he tried to get up, but he didn't know if he touched anything or even heard anything as he thought he said something, but he couldn't hear it. Silence was all around him and then he found that he walls were gone and then he wandered where he was as a very disturbing thought slowly crept into his mind. _I'm dead and this is where I am left, complete and utter darkness_, he thought and then he started running to the other side, but his legs gave out before he could reach it, leaving him only to hyperventilate in the tiny square that he had built around himself. Days passed by unknownst to him, only seeming as years with each meal being the only thing he could use to count the time and sometimes he would start to question his own existence. It went on for a month, or to Shenlong thirty years and he came out looking older than he was, a boy of seven looking like he was nineteen, which wasn't that hard since he was abnormally tall for his age. There was a light at the end of the darkness and the watcher, who had been referred to as Orochimaru, stood in the doorway as two of the guards came in and helped Shenlong move to another room, one that had a bed and all the comforts desired in a normal room by a man. The light was too bright for Shenlong and he was squinting most of the time until Orochimaru handed him a pair of shades to help his eyes adjust to the light. He felt it strange that his tormentor was now the person, who was helping him, but then again his life had never been normal and this was just excepted it as suffering pain to get something else, though he knew that Orochimaru would want something.

"From now on, consider yourself to be one of my instruments of revenge against the leaf village and as such you will be trained to be the perfect killing machine," declared Orochimaru as he showed him his new uniform to replace the tattered black ninja outfit that he wore. The new uniform was also black, but it had a leather vest with pouches for materials and it included a pair of black boots instead of sandals because they could last longer.

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The guard took a puff of his cigarette so that he could feel some ease and comfort in his situation of having to protect someone from a group of ninja, but he was still a little nervous since he heard that Sound ninja were supposed to be a new kind of ninja. He just sighed as he leaned agains the railing, but he couldn't shake the feeling like something bad was about to happen. The guard was immediately proven right when he felt a foot on the back of his neck as he was pushed forward by an unseen assailant whom had a size 6 pair of boots. Using his feet, the guard rebounded off of the ground and came back for a kick, but the kid was able to move faster than him, ducking under the guard's leg and giving him a rising dragon punch (shoryuken) to his chin, knocking the guard back into a tree.

"You can give up now," said the kid who talked like a kid, but was very tall for a kid of seven. "The rest of your friends are dead, there will be no back up to come back and help you and when your employer dies there will be no reason for us to have any quarrel."

"Sorry, but I made a promise to my employer that I would protect him so that is what I'm going to do," replied the guard as he charged the kid with a sword in hand, but the kid simply deflected the sword with the kunai in his left hand and stabbed the guard in the back with the kodachi in his right.

"You chose poorly," said the kid as he walked on into the chambers of his prey and everything was silent until from the chambers erupted the cry of death. The kid soon walked out, covered in blood.

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Author's note: The next one wil not detail Shelong's life it will be a extending the ShinoXIno pairing and have more moments. 


	43. A Walk in the Park

Bonus Chapter 3: A Walk in the Park

Disclaimer: After 42, now going on 43 chapters of doing this, you damn well know what I own and what I don't own.

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There it was again, when he inhaled the scent of the woman lying right next to him in bed, the smell of that perfume that he bought her, the nice bouquet of spices that could bring tears to someone's eyes. Slipping back into past recollections and forgotten lore, Shino remembered that he had bought her that brand for Christmas knowing that she had been keeping her eye on it whenever she walked by the store, but was too proud to beg for money. She might have done it sometime ago when she was just a kid, but now she wanted no demanded, respect and would do nothing of that sort to jeopardize that respect that she had gained by begging for something that she really didn't need. After a month of seeing her almost pouting look whenever she saw the perfume in a display window, Shino decided to give her the perfume as a gift so that she could be happy. He wanted to keep her happy since she was his special flower in his vase and he wanted to give that flower sunlight so he could see a blooming rose that would bring life to a grave. Gently, he let his hand caress her cheek as he lay there smiling at her, admiring every curve of her face and her body while she slept so soundly and so peacefully that Shino was overwhelmed by her beauty. Most of the men in Konoha would kill to be here and he had gotten some threatening letters from her fans, mostly boys, but he brushed them off because the last group that tried to beat him up wound up finding out the Aburame's skills in the art of assassination.

"How do you have such smooth skin," asked Ino as she opened her eyes to peer at the very calm and collected Shino Aburame, her Shino Aburame.

"I guess it must be the soap you have," replied a smirking Shino as he kissed her on the forehead and tore himself away from the bed to make her breakfast. "What would you like for breakfast?"

"Surprise me," said Ino as she sat up in bed and looked at the shirtless Aburame as he walked off into the kitchen with his sunglasses still on.

Breakfast consisted of a traditional Japanese breakfast of rice and fish, but Shino improvised and made French toast to go with it. There were a lot of surprising things about Shino that Ino had learned over time, one being the way he could smile sometimes, another being the fact that his sunglasses had been permanently attached to his face, never giving Ino the chance to see what his eyes looked like under the dark shades. It would sometimes annoy her that his eyes would remain a secret from her, even after she moved in with him, but she would let him keep that secret so she could keep him. They ate over a conversation about the new changes made in the selling of the flower shop, since it would eventually interfere with Ino's work, but Shino would tell her that he would find some shop keeps to help her keep the place afloat. She didn't need to look in his eyes to tell how much he loved her, to tell that he would do anything for her. She didn't even need him to tell her that through words, even though he could keep a conversation with her for an hour. He was a man who spoke not with words, but by doing them.

"Well since we're both off today why don't we go out and see a movie or something," suggested Ino as she beamed at her lover like a child of five, a face that he had always found cute.

"Okay, I don't see why we need to just spend it sitting around," said Shino as he went to get their showered started, the shower that would often end with them making love in the shower. "Do you plan on inviting any friends along, honey?"

"You still amaze me by how tender you can be," giggled Ino over her glass of orange juice. As soon as she heard the running water, she found herself practically running to the bathroom, removing her pajama top, and wrapping her arms around her shirtless lover.

"You never answered m- augh," moaned Shino as she licked his very sensitive earlobe, a thing that she often did to tease him, but he had figured out every sensitive spot on her a long time ago.

"A well respected shinobi should never let himself be caught off guard," whispered Ino into his ear, but Shino disappeared into a mound of bugs and she felt hands behind her, his hands, moving up and down her body.

"One should never underestimate her enemy, especially such a well respected kuinochi as yourself," said Shino as he let his hand push on a certain spot on her tummy that made her feel a tickling sensation.

"Oh please don't do that, all powerful Shino," begged Ino as she stroked his muscles. "I'll do anything you want."

"First, undress yourself," commanded Shino softly into her ear.

**THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A LEMON, SO IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT THEN LOOK FOR THE OTHER BOLD LETTERS SIGNALING END OF LEMON**

His hands left her, leaving her to trail her hands to pajama bottom, which she slowly pulled down at a mercifully slow pace, letting him see her cute little ass. It wasn't little, but it wasn't very big, it was just round and perfect for Shino's liking because it was very cute. Covering her perfect ass was a pair of panties that had a picture of a rose on them and was blue laced, sexy, but at the same time a bit child like for the picture. She finally stepped out of them, after about five minutes of slowly pushing it down, which was very hard for Shino because it was all he took not to just rip of the rest of her clothes and get to it, but he knew he would demean the act by acting such an animal like fashion. The only thing left on Ino was her blue laced bra that was matching to her panties, but at the same time it was all sexy and no cuteness, unlike the panties. If there was one thing Ino knew, it was how to make him want her, how to make him her slave that would be at her beck and call, she was the queen ant. Her hands went to the straps of her bra and she pushed them right off her shoulders so that she could move her bra so that it showed just a bit of her nipples, the proper amount to tease him with. With a finger, she beckoned him forward so that she could bring his head down to lick the bit of nipple that was peeping out of her bra. Before Ino even realized it, he had taken her bra off so that he could fully lick, suck, and massage her nipples to get her nice and wet because he didn't want to wait a second more. With a nod from Ino, Shino yanked her panties down so that he could get a good view of her dripping wet core and he pushed his head in between her legs and let his tongue taste her, giving her experimental licks all around. His tongue was so skilled at its ability to drive her crazy with the pleasure that she was feeling as he pushed chakra into his tongue and ran it all up and down her sex. He started rising from his crouching position as she wrapped her legs around his head and as he did this, she bent backwards, showing her flexibility as she put his own hard erection into her mouth and started sucking on it, running her tongue along the tip of it as she moved up and down on his length. It was just too much pleasure for either of them to take and they climaxed in each other's mouth. After washing each other in the shower, Shino proceeded to bend Ino over the shower as he pushed his again, rock hard erection into again wet sex, thrusting savagely into her while she moaned loudly in pleasure. This was only the best when they did it to each other, only with each other could feel so intense a pleasure as she wrapped her legs around his waist to push him more into her.

"Oh God, Shino…YES…..harder…fuck me harder," shouted Ino as he complied to her demands and she could feel her impending release coming closer and closer to her. "SSSSSHHHHHIIIINNNOOOOO!"

**LEMON ENDS**

After a while, they got out of the shower and dried each other off and finally heared the knocking on the door from their friends. Quickly, they both got dressed and opened the door to let Sakura, Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, Shikamaru, Temari, Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neiji in to their house, some of them having sly grins, while others were either blushing or indifferent. Ino then wished she had picked up her lover's fashion sense, since he could easily hide his blush under the covering of his mouth and hood, but her face was opened for the world to see the tomato red on her face.

"Did you two have fun," asked Kiba with a Cheshire cat grin, but he was immediately stopped as he caught the very faint sight of a bug on Shino's shoulder and he didn't want to guess if there were other bugs on his back.

"Well the movie theatre permanently banned Naruto so I guess we have to find something else to do," said Sakura as she sighed.

"It wasn't my fault that the lady was in my view, she was just too fat," protested Naruto as he crossed his arms and wandered how much more of her shit he was going to take. "Anyway, as I remember, Sasuke was also insulting the place, which is when the manager of it kicked us out."

"Don't talk about Sasuke like that," hissed Sakura as she looked at Naruto dangerously, but he didn't seem frightened anymore. He could easily dodge her punches, but his anger might get out of hand.

"That's okay, I was thinking more of a walk in the park anyway," said Shino as he looked at Ino as he motioned them to go on ahead of them. "We'll catch up, but first we have to discuss something."

"Okay, don't keep us waiting," said Sakura as she walked out ahead of the rest.

"What is it you wanted to tell me, Shino-kun," asked Ino as the other's cleared out ahead of him.

"I wanted to show you something," said Shino as he let his hand drift up to his shades and he slowly took them off, revealing eyes of pure silver with a black orb in the middle of it.

"Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful your eyes are," asked Ino as she kissed him.

* * *

The next chapter will feature either GaarXSaku moments or more of Shenlong's childhood. Add it in a review. Highest vote decides chapter. 


	44. Try It Out

Bonus Chapter four: Try it out

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with Naruto.

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The village he walked into was a bit of a contradictory to itself since at the front of the city was a battle zone, littered with bits of shrapnel and blood in small craters. Further into the city, the city was its normal beautiful self with the every building intact and every shop sign still hung from where it was saying it was open, but that was because it happened to have been knocked off by some stray kunai and fell to the ground to be picked up by someone who put it back on. Gaara saw a bit of himself in the destruction as his eyes ran over the line between the destroyed part and the part that was still in perfect harmony. Inside of his own mind was much of the same thing, he had his old self still inside of his consciousness, the side that hated everything that lived because that side truly believed that every other living being other than himself were all working against him to remove his existence and so he would kill them for it. Then there was the Gaara of now, the side trying to regain the emotions that he once had before he turned into the monster inside, the side that craved for the touch of another living being, for a relationship of love. It was the thing that he prayed for at night and he worked hard for someone to love him so became the Kazekage, but it only got him fan girls that often come when there is a young Kazege. None of them were ever anything more than a girl with a thought of being the Kazekage's wife, that's all they wanted was to have the ability to call themselves the kazekage's wife like that meant they were the Kazekage.

_She doesn't seem to care much about that,_ thought Gaara as he looked to the kuinochi next to him, the one with short pink hair that she had only started to grow recently. It never meant anything to Sakura, she just treated him like she had been doing before he was Kazekage, and that meant something for him because he never thought of her as a singular separate entity before he had recognized that fact. Before he realized that she treated him like a friend and not like some god, he had only know her as "Naruto's friend, Sakura," but now she was more than just a friend of Naruto's, she was his friend, Sakura Haruno. There are a lot of things that can complicate his thought process and this was one of them, but as he became more familiar with her, his thought process drifted back to it's normal state with minor adjustments. It felt good to know that she didn't look at him differently and would actually take time to notice him instead of just sucking up to him. She was able to disagree with him, unlike other girls, but there was always that one little factor that got in the way of getting closer to her named Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke was dead now and Gaara was helping Sakura to get herself out of the hole she was in, even if she did deserve it.

"You're home looks well intact, Sakura," said Gaara as he walked around the wreckage looking for something or someone that Sakura had no clue about.

"Yeah, but I still find it weird to call it my home after everything I've done," said Sakura as she sat down under a tree while he just looked for a trail or pattern, her eyes focusing on the way he looked over everything. "I don't think monsters have a home."

"If I have a home then you should have a home as well," said Gaara, his voice couldn't give off the bitterness that he felt at her calling herself a monster. "Don't call yourself a monster, it would be terrible if you didn't forgive yourself when Naruto forgave you of everything you did, and you have been through so much. Everything you have learned has helped you to finally grow up, which was odd that you hadn't grown up from your childhood dream, and you are now a more beautiful person for the experience."

"Somehow I don't think I can grow," replied Sakura in her sad, pathetic tone as she picked up a small piece of metal and flicked it away. "You shouldn't fight for a lost cause."

"I fight for a cause greater than the both of us, Sakura," said Gaara as he got up and Sakura could swear that she saw a tear run down his cheek as he spoke. "I fight to show that everyone can be redeemed, that no one is bound to be a slave to their past. It may seem like an losing fight, but damn it, I want to fight it! What hope can there be for me if you can't be redeemed?"

"Gomensai, Gaara-sama," said Sakura as she bowed toward him, finally realizing why he had been trying to help her, because if he helped her, he would be helping himself to be something better. "I think after hearing you say those words, I can finally help myself to get past all of this, thank you Gaara-sama. Can I help you find what you're looking for?"

"Well I'm trying to locate Bishamon," replied Gaara as he looked to see another body lying in the ground. "Well I found that snake Sanjuro, but I wander where Bishamon is."

"I think I found him," said Sakura as she pointed at another body lying face down in the dirt, but they couldn't tell if he was dead or alive.

"Dead or alive," asked Gaara as he walked to the body of his loyal follower.

"I'm alive, but I can't move my body," replied Bishamon (Shenlong's real name in this fan fic) as he turned his head to the side. "How the fuck did he get to be that tough? Even with the power of a seven tailed demon it took all I had just to keep up with him and I would have lost had it not been for Kurenai cutting off his tails."

"I thought you were supposed to be invincible," said Sakura with a sigh as she began healing his injuries. "I mean you did beat Kisame, stormed an entire complex, and killed other dangerous S ranked criminal."

"Give me a freakin' break, I'm not god," said Shenlong as he felt a bit of his strength coming back to him, but only enough to roll over on his back. "Sure I beat them, but I never said it was easy, even fighting Kisame I had some wounds that Yuki had to treat. All the others after him were just a bunch of weaklings that were killed with a mere wave of my sword."

"That cocky attitude that you have would suggest otherwise," replied Sakura as she continued to heal the wounded hunter-nin.

"It helps to get my enemies angry and angry enemies make stupid decisions that I use to my advantage," retorted Bishamon as he looked away defensively. "Sometimes I am overconfident and it will get me into trouble sometimes, but if I don't get better at bluffing or if I get unsure of myself, how can I protect those I care about from dying. My flaws are never hidden, but at the same time I'll never allow them to be acknowledged because I've used the persona of Shenlong for so long that it has become my name. I don't feel like Bishamon, he lets people into what he's thinking, he shows how concerned he is about something when he's fighting, but I can't be that man because my cockiness is everything that has gotten me here and I can't throw that away."

"Few people can relate to you," said Sakura as she got up and then looked at him to add, "But then again, not every person relates to every character that lives, you are just a product of your environment."

"I don't want to be a product of my environment," said Bishamon as he baled his right hand into a fist. "I want my environment to be a product of me because if it is, then no one will ever be like me and that's a good thing."

"You should go see what's happening with Naruto and the village," said Gaara as he picked up Shenlong with his sand. "I'll take him to the infirmary or someplace where he can rest before getting chewed out by Yuki."

"Okay, I'll see you later then," said Sakura as she ran off.

"Hey Jude, don't be afraid," sang Bishamon, "You were made to go out and get her. The minute, you let her under your skin, then you begin, to make things better."

"Bishamon, do you think I have feelings for her," asked Gaara as he walked along.

"Sometimes you just need to try and look into yourself," replied the hunter-nin as he put on a pair of shades. "Also Gaara-sama, I think you can still call me Shenlong, Bishamon was murdered years ago."

"Is that another vengeance you plan to exact," asked Gaara as he looked at the man he was holding.

"I don't know, Gaara-sama, but what I do know is that she's out there waiting for you to say the right words," replied Shenlong and he remained quiet for the whole trip.

* * *

Why was he on her doorstep, looking like he was about to break down on his knees, but instead of doing that he walked into her apartment when she asked him to come in and as he sat back, he noticed again the graceful way her hips moved as she turned. She, on the other hand, noticed the mysterious aura around him that was pleasant in it's way. His elegant gestures that were conservative, but at the same time it seemed like he was adding something to them. All that was left was the thing unsaid and the thing still left to do, but they were too scared to be the one who made the first move. All he knew was that something had led him here, something had brought her to his apartment and it was that something that made him the first to make a move.

"I was wondering, if it's not too soon for you, would you like to be in a relationship with me, Sakura," asked Gaara as he stood so close to her, his face only a few inches from her own. "I know it's sudden and I know that it's asking a lot of you to go through this right after his death, but I know what I want and it's you."

"Would you like to spend the night," was Sakura's reply and his reply was his lips against her own.


	45. Origins of Shenlong part two

Bonus Chapter 5: Origin of Shenlong part Two

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

There he was again, in the darkness all alone without anything to hold onto besides himself and even that counted for nothing to him, as it was hard to tell if he really existed or if he was just a simple construction of thoughts and memories, an entity created purely out of the meeting of information. All he could o was rage against the floor or whatever solid thing he could get his hands on, but sometimes he imagined things were there and raged at the air. Most of the night vision cameras caught this to track how stable he was and he would only be taken out if he would only allow his mind to be broken, but the boy wouldn't let himself go through that. It was all he had left and wouldn't let it go without a fight as he tried to look for ways to justify his existence, but each method only lasted for so long. The room was getting too much like a coffin and he couldn't breathe sometimes only to feel a cool breeze in the room and he knew he was being saved by someone because Orochimaru would just let him die. As the air started to flow into his chest, he felt all the more powerful and he noticed that someone was opening the door and walked in to see his him shirtless and without means to cover the self inflicted scars on his body. He felt a soft touch on his shoulder, which made him whirl around and pin whoever it was that had come to inflict more torture on him or take him back to the operation table and do more of those sick experiments to him, the last one was still stuck in his memory of having his puts and insides lying there in front of him. To his surprise it was one of the young ninja training to be a medical ninja, he remembered seeing her in a nurses uniform with Dr. Victoria, one of the only people in the complex who was nice to him. The boy would never admit it, but he had a crush on Dr. Victoria and she seemed to show him some affection that was oh so good for him, it made the complex tolerable since he would have her examining him every day, everyday a chance to talk with her.

"Come on, you can come out now, Dr. Victoria has found a way for you to escape this place," said the young kuinochi as she pulled him to his feet and admired how cool he looked despite how worn out he was.

"What about that bastard, Shingen, he wouldn't just let me leave after I beat his son to death," said Shenlong as he remembered the warden of this complex teaching him how to use a sword and all these other techniques that had helped him, but the man was a sadist only bent on making Shenlong break, mentally and physically.

**FLASHBACK BEGINS**

"You will be studying under me for the time being, so whenever Orochimaru feels like he has no use for you," said the man in a black kimono as he had his son come and bring out a sword before him. "Now then I assume you know how to use a sword, your father was a bit of a boastful idiot when really I was always better than him and so don't be very much unnerved when my son beats you in training."

"I won't, sir," said Shenlong, his voice showing how much he was holding back his anger as his claws, as his fingernails had grown longer and sharper, dug into the floor as his anger increased.

"Now then, I will teach you a better form of swordsmanship than that atrocious form your father tried to use when he was growing up," said the man as he brushed his hair back in an arrogant manner, but he was only trying to make Shenlong angry, waiting for the crucial moment when he was angry enough to get Shenlong to do something stupid. "Such a waste that he couldn't even protect your mother, who really was a beautiful woman she just didn't have the brains for her taste in men an married the bottom of the barrel."

His last comment worked its trick as Shenlong jumped for the man sitting, but he immediately found himself pinned down to the ground and he felt something sharp slip into his stomach as the man pressed a kunai into his lower abdomen. The boy's wounds would close and he wouldn't die from it so the man could cut at and stab at his leisure, but the boy could still feel the pain of each wound being placed on his stomach and feel the acid placed on the blade. Minutes became hours, hours became days, and days became eternity as he was slowly being tortured by his new teacher, but somehow, he had still managed to give himself consciousness. He took everything today because tomorrow learning what his enemy knew and he would learn his enemy's weakness so that when the time came, he would pay the man back for everything. The man's name was Shingen and his son was just as much of a bully as he was, so much like his father that Shenlong didn't mind putting his son into critical condition.

**FLASHBACK ENDS**

She leaned him against her to help him walk out of the complex, she nearly fainted with him being so close if not for the fact that he was so cold, and she would occasionally give him some of the soldier pills she had to keep his energy up. It wasn't healthy to give him one right away so she gave him a pill a day and made sure that he was getting the right amount. Pretty soon, it was he that was carrying her as he smirked at the cute little kunoichi in his arms, and tried to recall many things about her. When was the first time that he had seen her bringing him his meal secretly after making sure that the people viewing the camera to his room were asleep? How much had she done for him? Had he ever even asked her for her name?

"My dear little savior, what is your name," asked Shenlong as he started to carry her bridal style after seeing how exhausted she was and the many beaten up guards in the hallways.

"It's Mikoto," replied the girl with a little blush on her face that she was actually admiring someone younger than her even if it was by just one year.

"So did he kidnap you or did you join willingly," asked Shenlong as he kicked open a door to the outside.

"My parents were part of the Sound village so naturally I became a ninja for the Sound village," said Mikoto as she brushed her blue hair a bit. "I know you must hate Orochimaru-sama, but please don't try to hurt Orochimaru-sama, he gave us all a home, if you kill him you kill many other people."

"My only concern right now is getting out, you should get out of here though so they don't associate you with this," said Shenlong as he set her down and leaned her against the wall, taking a kunai from her pouch. "If you follow through with this your precious Orochimaru will be angry with you and it might be bad for whatever family you have still."

"What are you going to do with that, Shenlong-kun," asked Mikoto as she felt an all familiar drowsiness of a sleep inducing jutsu coming on to her.

"The ones you knocked out can see your face and it wouldn't seem like I did it if there were some left alive," replied Shenlong as he slowly helped her slip down to the floor. "But you need to go to sleep right now or else they might think you had some part it in it. Thank you for all your help with my escape and one day I will repay you."

After she fell asleep, Shenlong placed her on a comfortable bed in one of the rooms in an outside complex before going back to kill all of the guards lying around in the hallway, not feeling anything as he cut their throats open and spilt their blood on the floor. Then he started walking towards the place where his hated teacher slept and he knew the bastard would be there waiting for him because they both had to settle the score, one way or the other. The chamber doors were open and waiting for him to enter since the guards weren't at their posts. They were sent away by Shingen so that no one would interfere with the fight.

"Please come in, Shenlong," beckoned Shingen as he sat at a table that had two swords on it, one being Shingen's sword and the other being Shenlong's sword. "I'd hope to make you something better then what you were, the son of a lowly idiot, but then again I guess you were just born unlucky."

"Not as unlucky as your own son, Shingen-sensei," replied Shenlong as he got closer to his teacher, using the same boastful taunting that his teacher had used on him during their first meeting and he was getting the same results. "If I am the son of a lowly idiot then I guess your son must be less than that. He must be less than shit if your shit."

"Now I will begin my final lesson with you, boy," shouted Shingen as he tossed Shenlong his straight sword that was wide in the curve toward the tip and then he took his own sword off the table. "But if we must fight, I would like to fight in the garden, that way the loser will be watering my plants."

Shenlong nearly jumped through the wall in eager anticipation, as if he was going to massacre Shingen the minute the fight started, a ploy that was only meant to further enrage Shingen. Inside a fire broke out as Dr. Victoria set fire to the experimental facilities after letting the other test subjects free from their cage, but the fire spread quickly inside, killing those in the critical condition room, which was thankfully one person. It didn't bother Shingen though, because he didn't know that his son was suffocating from lack of oxygen nor did he know that his family line was suddenly cut off. All that mattered to him right now was cutting down the arrogant student of his who had put his son in that critical condition room and that's exactly what he started to do as he ran out with his sword swinging, cutting an arc into the air, while Shenlong just directed the blade away. It was then that Shenlong started going on the offensive, cutting at shingen furiously as he swung his sword so fast that he couldn't see that his arms were slowly turning into wolf arms nor that the hair was growing on his body. He barely knew that he had become one with the wolf blood in him until he put his sword down and leapt at his teacher, biting and nawing at the throat until blood poured into his mouth and when it was all over he fainted. Luckily, Dr. Victoria showed up to clean the blood away and dispose of the evidence, but the next wouldn't be so lucky.

* * *

My next chapter will include more dark Naruto. 


	46. Haunted

Bonus chapter 6: Haunted

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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There was something about the full moon that brought out the beast in Naruto, that made him act a little more like the demon that he had become. Full moons seem to come more often for Naruto and it seemed like there would always be a full moon over his head for the rest of his life, but something was becoming clearer to Naruto as the nights passed by. He started to see the mistake about the full moon, seeing through the bullshit of the assumption that it was made to bring out the darker side of a person, all of it was a misconception about the full moon, whose true purpose was to be a guiding light for all those in the darkest of nights. As much as he hated the full moon for trying to guide him back to a life that would no longer be waiting for him on the lighter side, he knew deep down inside that he couldn't live without it, that it had become a large part of himself. Pondering over the true purpose of the full moon was what he did on nights like these, when there was no one else to talk to or nothing to occupy his attention. It was all his means of escape, to use philosophy to take his thoughts away from the memories of friends that he had left behind, to take his mind off of the hole that had surrounded him again. The genius of the hole, no matter how far you got from it was so easy to fall back in and that's what he did, he fell back into that hole. 

"I suppose I also made it deeper while I was at it," mused Naruto as he started pour himself another cup of sake and wait patiently for a mission or a flavor of the night, but so far neither was coming. There was a knock on the door and Naruto went to open it. "Hello there, Itachi-san, is there another mission?"

"Yes, it seems we are looking for two of our members who have gone rogue and are conspiring with the Rock village," replied Itachi as he handed Naruto a picture of two men, both with short black hair and looked almost identical except one had orange eyes and another had yellow eyes. "The one with yellow eyes is Otori and the other one is Sota, both are originally rain ninjas so they are adept at using needles."

"Okay then, so when do we depart for our mission," asked Naruto as he walked out onto the veranda and looked out at the couples who seemed to be happy to have each other, that old familiar pain creeping its way into his stomach.

"We leave immediately," replied Itachi and with that he left to go get packed himself while Naruto had kept his things packed just in case they had to move.

"You're leaving to kill again, I see," said a familiar voice from the veranda that made Naruto jump out of his skin a bit, but he relaxed when he realized who it was or more accurately, what it was.

"Iruka-sensei, what keeps you to this earth, I hope you weren't a pedophile as well as a pervert," joked Naruto as he checked to make sure he had shuriken in the pocket of his cloak.

"You have only a part of you right now, but you aren't complete here," said Iruka as he stepped into the light, to reveal a familiar looking Iruka except there was a wound in his chest from where Naruto had stabbed him. "I cannot stop trying to help you find yourself if you do not listen to me. Please, Naruto, I know you had to change, but you have changed into something that will eventually cause your own ruin and will only dig yourself even deeper into this hole that you have fallen into."

"Iruka-sensei, I killed you not but a week ago, do you honestly believe they are going to welcome me back with open arms," asked Naruto as he began to drink heavily from the cup of sake that was in his hands before setting it back down. "All I need to do is ask for some pills that can stop me from seeing these delusions and then I can go off to kill the rogue members."

"Do as much as you like for I will never leave your side, I will always haunt you until you see the error of your ways," declared the ghost of Iruka as he walked slowly towards Naruto, but he then felt something pulling on his soul and he knew that his time of materialization had come to an end. "I will have to go now, but I will be watching over you for the rest of your life, so live a good one."

* * *

"They could be anywhere," said the twin with the yellow eyes as he walked around the camp fire, paranoid that assassins were all around him and his brother, even though they were among rock ninja. "We should have never gone rogue, the Akatsuki will never let us live long now that we have done this, and they will crucify us before we even set a foot in the rock village territory." 

"Sit down and be cool for a minute, the only way they can get us is if we are not calm enough to stay in our right minds," advised the twin with orange eyes as he sat down near the camp fire to eat the rice that he had cooked instead of having the rationed food that the rock ninja had brought with them. "Anyway, it would be suicide for any of them to even set foot in this camp, we have the elite of the rock village here, even the Typhoon is here to make sure we do not get assassinated, there is no way they could get us."

"Unless they send the Kyuubi vessel after us, then we are as good as done for," whispered Otori so as not to alarm the rock ninjas and give them the idea to abandon them to escape with their lives. "You and I both know that the quality of rock ninja has greatly declined since the Great Ninja Wars, they are not even that much of a threat to Konoha, even after it has suffered losses from the Sound village attack."

"Yes I know that, but you talk of thousands of enemies and we will have two coming after us, which means we outnumber them and we are not as weak as you think, Otori."

"Sota, this is the worst idea you have ever had, there is no way they would let us get away, especially Pein-sama, if he were to know of us taking out two of his subordinates he would come for us himself and then nothing can save us."

"You assume too much, Otori," laughed Sota as he took another bite of his rice. "Those nights spent philandering with that woman has left him weaker than he is, even if he does consider himself a god, that drug we put in his tea should keep him confined to one body so he cannot use his full power."

There was a n explosion that sent the two jumping into the sky when it happened, even though it had happened far away from them to even feel a tremor of the explosion. The sheer fright of it sent them jumping onto their feet as the possibility of assassin's coming for them was slowly coming to it's horrible realization. The rock ninja ran around trying to report on each defense of the camp before taking up positions to mark the enemies attack, but their appeared to be holes in the ground that they had not foreseen before and it hampered the guards' progress. It was a cold windy night with a full moon, an ominous night for two men who were on the run from a threat that could strike at any time and right now it would appear that moon had taken on the color of blood, the surest omen of death, but they could not tell whose death it would be. The only thing the twins could do is to keep calm and wait for the assassins to finally show themselves. It did not take long for that to happen.

"Fire in the east, enemy attack on the east," whispered one of the messenger ninja as he brought the report to the jonin in charge of the whole camp.

"Enemy attacks to the west," reported another messenger ninja and both were dismissed instantly.

"You two should go with Typhoon, he is sure to be able to protect you from any enemies that might occur," said the leader as he waved the twins towards a big looking man with dark long hair and pale blue eyes that seemed cloudy.

"This way," came the Typhoon's booming voice as he started moving towards an opening in the camp that was used for surprise escapes if necessary.

The twins followed their protector while other rock ninja fell around them, shuriken and kunai imbedded into their skulls, but all the twins could worry about right now was following the man in front of them. Each tree branch seemed to scrape against them, leaving a cut on Sota's face as he ran, while his brother, Otori, had a tear in his shirt that soon became a large rip as they proceeded on. In front of them, Typhoon wasn't faring any better than the ones he was trying to protect, but he wouldn't notice it because he was thinking only of the threat that was haunting them. Luckily he had an ace up his sleeve that would guarantee that they would get away. He knew the real reason why the twins left and he knew that it would be that it was his ticket out.

* * *

For all my fans, check out the Castlevania fan fic that I have. Just go on my profile to find it.


	47. Origin of Shenlong part three

Bonus Chapter seven: Origin of Shenlong prt3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. This is some years after his escape and he is now seventeen.

* * *

The wind was blowing peacefully as Shenlong slept so soundly in the autumn day as leaves fell around him, making a bed of multiple colors. Dr. Victoria, or Hoshi, as she called herself looked on at the young boy, especially since he looked so peaceful more peaceful than he had looked in so long it was hard for her to specify an allotted time period. She ran a hand off the boy's soft hair that felt like fur or cotton, but she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt for knowing that it was her research that led to this creation and led to the torment of this boy. For how long he could last without the help of a wolf she didn't know, but she didn't want to wait for Orochimaru to finally decide it was in his best interest to send him to the wolves or that there was no use in having Shenlong around. The former would happen before the latter since Orochimaru had taken a liking toward Shenlong and thought of him as his favorite experiment.

She could still remember seeing his eyes widen when he had awakened during the surgery and knew how much he wanted to scream or say something, but they had paralyzed everything. He was unable to do anything to stop them from hurting him and she could see the tears coming out of the corner of his eyes. Tears came to her own eyes as she realized that all of this was her fault and yet there she was, watching the beginning, for it would not end here, of this boy's torture and she was powerless to stop it. It all started out with her experimentation for gene therapy and it ended with this boy, this sad boy who had lost his parents a year ago at least. He didn't deserve any of it, but it had all happened and it was all her fault. She wrapped her arms around the sleeping boy, crying into his shoulder as she pleaded for him to forgive her.

"Please, forgive me for doing that research that did this to you," said Hoshi as she hugged the boy and she could feel warm tears on her own shoulder as he hugged her back. "Don't worry, Shenlong, I'll keep you safe, I'll protect you from that bastard, don't you worry one bit. In time, you will regain your memories and I'll make sure of that."

"I forgive you, Hoshi-chan, I will not let you get hurt as well," said Shenlong as he hugged back.

"Thank you for not hating me," said Hoshi through the tears, but she felt his tongue licking them away like he always did.

"I could never hate you, Hoshi-chan," said Shenlong as he looked into her eye. "I...I.."

"You what, Shen-chan."

"I love you, Hoshi-sama," said Shenlong before he kissed her on the lips and he was immediately pushed away from her. "I'm not that little anymore; I'm beyond the age of consent and am now an adult. There is nothing stopping us from loving each other, and I want to love you, please don't run away from this because we both know that it something neither of us doesn't want to lose."

There it was, the make or break moment where she could destroy something or let it flourish. Even though she had some doubts about what the future might hold she couldn't help but realize how much she lived for that boy…no how much she lived for that _man_, who had been through so much yet had managed to retain his soul. He had kept his promise and stayed strong for her, just like she had always wanted for him to do and over time she found herself wishing to be younger, found herself falling in love with the only hope for her redemption. Hoshi had denied that she felt like that because she wasn't suppose to feel like that towards him, she was supposed to be motherly to him. Though try as she might, watching him grow into that man had been like growing up for her, growing back into that old personality she had before Shenlong had been captured.

"Okay then," she said as he kissed her again, this time more passionately than before and he worked his tongue in many ways that just seemed natural to him. _Is it really alright for me to be here, doing this with someone who is so younger than me? Then again, who will care, as long as we are happy together__ we can make it work._

She ignored that gut feeling that told her something dreadful was going to happen and walked into the abandoned hut with him, one of the hideouts that they had used while on the run from Orochimaru and other villages. Shenlong was a wanted assassin and the bounties on his head were a very handsome sum for any bastard who wanted to be set for life. Her own head had a bit of a price on it as well, but she was wanted alive for her own genius in medical and experimental research, which could lead to more Shenlong's. In the end, she was selling that to the Mist to save Shenlong, giving him a place to stay at while at the same time being able to live with him comfortably, without ever having to worry about an assassin. She didn't want him to be insecure his whole life, even if he was with the wolf clan he would have to isolate himself completely and she wanted him to live with both sides so he could find out who he was. She would do anything for him and that is why she went into that hut with him. That is why they spent the whole time making love before they would set off to go to the Mist village, unaware that fate was about to deal a cruel blow to the happy couple.

* * *

"Okay are you all sure of who your target is," asked Minato Namikaze as he stared at his team which consisted of Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai, all of whom were specialists and brought their own specialty.

"Our target is Dr. Hoshi Victoria, head specialist for a laboratory run by Orochimaru which may have created the assassin known as Shenlong," replied Kakashi as he set each kunai and shuriken into its respective pouch and holder. "We're also to try and capture Shenlong alive and if unable to, we are to eliminate the threat and prevent either one from reaching the Mist."

"Correct," said Mianto as he shifted his outfit, he had never gotten use to the Hokage battle outfit that he was given since he had never really worn it. Today he wanted to do a mission just to stay loose and it was a very important matter that he felt he should tend to. He was thinking of the girl who was at home right now, waiting for him to return, waiting and getting ideas from his perverted teacher no doubt. "We should start moving since they are in the old hut only a kilometer away. Remember, Shenlong may have killed some of our own shinobi while killing his own targets, but this is not to be a personal vendetta since either of them could have information on Orochimaru's whereabouts."

"But he does seem to be a cold blooded killer," said Asuma as he puffed one of the cigarettes that he always carried with him, even on missions. "He's been killing since we were just genin growing up without having killed anybody and he took a step up in the slaughter chain before us. Whose to say he isn't some kind of psycho right now?"

"His family served Suna well until it was completely destroyed leaving an unknown baby, who we know just by pictures is Shenlong," replied the fourth Hokage as he looked through the telescope. "You have your orders, get moving. I got you three so this wouldn't be a fucked up mission."

"Hai," said the three jonin as they went off to get in their positions.

* * *

Shenlong stood there in the door way while Hoshi tended the flowers that she had planted there a few months ago. They were growing very well with the sunlight looming over her and the flowers, casting an angelic glow that made him relax more than he had in so long. It was all so peaceful, usually the time when he was most on guard but now he was just relaxing out there, until he caught something. It was a faint scent that was slowly getting closer, the scent of another and the scent of…cigarettes. He released himself from the genjutsu and saw that there was a man going for Hoshi, a bearded man with a cigarette in his mouth that he was surprised that Hoshi hadn't smelt it, but behind him was another man, who resembled a scarecrow with silver grayish hair and his headband over his right eye. Without even waiting to register the last smell, Shenlong rushed to aid her, throwing a few kunai to force the ninja to move back while she threw out her own brand of stun powder. _That's my __lover_, he thought proudly as he raced for her, but before he could get even half way there, he was found that someone was in his path.

Minato was there and was already there with an attack for Shenlong, a sword that was aimed right at him since he wanted to dispose of Shenlong as quickly as possible so as not to make any trouble and ease the kid of his pain, but it wasn't Shenlong's warm blood that was coating the blade. Shenlong didn't know what to do, he could only stand there in horror as Hoshi smiled at him. This outcome had never been predicted that Hoshi would be able to block this attack with her own body, no one had ever know her to be fast. It was love that made her fast, and that love was going with the light her eyes and when that candle finally blew out, there was Shenlong howling in tears over the loss of her.

"I am…sorry, I didn't mean for her to die," said Minato trying to find the right words to calm the young man, but he could see that there was no calming him while he was conscious. "Fine then, RASENGAN!"

The attack sent Shenlong flying through air and Minato turned and motioned for Kurenai to retrieve him. The only problem was the Shenlong wasn't knocked out by the attack, he was just even more pissed off. Now there was only a strong hate in Shenlong, one that would prove deadly for Minato.


	48. Taking out Targets

Bonus Chapter 8: Taking out the Targets

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters of said anime/manga.

* * *

Naruto looked as his prey ran around in the forest trying to escape the carnage and chaos of the camp behind them, both men scared to death by this prospect. He found it amusing to watch them run, an amusement that he supposed came from his own pain, the only way to appease that pain was to see others suffering. It was a cruel and weak way to deal with pain, but Naruto felt it was more preferable than doing what he did before which was to let it all bottle up inside. He had done that before, but it all came out when those two villagers had tried to kill him and the moment in which he raped Sakura. Somehow he felt that people would believe that it was the Kyuubi that had done it, but the cruel truth was that Naruto wasn't the one holding his body back; it was the Kyuubi doing that. For some reason, Kyuubi had become the bodies designated driver as he felt that hatred just well up inside of him and explode into everything the minute he entered her violently. What was there left of that little boy, it seemed like he had been killed by all the betrayals of the villagers and his so called friend Sakura. It would have been a bit risky thinking on those painful thoughts, but Naruto had grown colder and now the only thing he really thought of was how to kill the two twins that were running. Them and the hulking Typhoon whom he had been praying to get a shot at for a long time.

* * *

Itachi looked through most of the rock ninja camp that was out there, now a desolate waste littered with raggedy corpses and severed limbs, a carnage that had been caused by one man. Something about that man unnerved Itachi for some reason, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was quite yet, he just felt that there was something eerie about him. As he walked further into the camp, looking for signs of the target he caught sight of another ninja running away from his sight. Sensing that it might be a trap, he summoned a shadow clone to go after the man and as soon as the clone turned the corner it disappeared in a shroud of smoke and metal. _Ah so he can use __jutsus__ that mold metal, that may come in handy_, thought Itachi as he walked towards the other side. About an inch before he got to the other side a metal blade shot out before him as the leader of the camp leaped out with his arm covered in metal and a chain right up close to his side. Itachi immediately copied the technique since it wasn't any inherited trait, but he was surprised to find that the man was able to do more with it as the metal enveloped around him and made his entire body metallic.

"I am looking for two members of my organization, I do not need to kill you," said Itachi as he stood unfazed by the change in the leader all the while calculating eyes observed them. "But if you persist in getting in my way then I will kill you without the slightest hint of mercy except to make it quick."

"I am honor bound to carry out all orders," replied the leader and then he brought his hand out to cut at Itachi, who immediately jumped back and used his eyes more physically destructive power and destroyed the leader's arm. "Ah, you bastard!"

"I warned you," said Itachi in his calm and dangerous voice. "Now I will have to kill you, so sorry that it had to come to this."

That's when a green snake shot out at Itachi, a large one made with a strange green chakra and had devastating power as it tore up the side of the ground. Itachi just managed to dodge it, but his opponent wasn't as lucky as he was destroyed by the wave of energy. Every cell was burnt to cinders and all that was left of the man was his shadow, as if that was permanently burnt into the ground. To Itachi's displeasure, the snake turned direction to come right back on him and he was more than certain that someone was trying to kill him. It was odd that such a move would be made possible by anyone other than a vessel of a demon, but he hadn't been told of any near here.

To escape from its path, Itachi jumped off the cliff that the camp was on and landed into a tree, hoping that the plunge would make it seem like he had died. He waited a good minute before he finally climbed down from the tree and sent out one of his crows to survey the area. It didn't get far as it was caught up in a tangle of ravens that had mysteriously appeared.

"How could you still be alive, Shenlong-san," asked Itachi as he acknowledged the presence of the other man sitting in a tree. "I specifically heard reports that they were holding funeral services in your name."

"That was all a ploy so I could make you think that I had been killed," said Shenlong as he jumped from the tree and showed his hands. "Don't worry; I'm not here to fight you, no matter how much I want to see who's stronger. This is completely business talk and I believe we have much we can discuss at the moment."

"You would never betray your Kazekage so don't try to fool me with a talk of defection," said Itachi as he finally turned towards the jonin.

"I'm not here to even let you entertain the thought of my defection," replied Shenlong as he cracked his knuckles out of habit, but Itachi mistook for a threat and immediately took a kunai out.

"Intimidation will not work, Shenlong," said Itachi as he set his eyes to his mangekyou. "I'm warning you not to try anything, because you will not succeed."

"I wasn't going to fight, but now that you have made such a tempting offer by accusing me of such thugery," said Shenlong as he took a step forward and slipped his kunai down into his right hand.

Both of them looked at each other, Itachi with his sharingan and Shenlong through his shades, and after what seemed like an hour the two charged at each other with kunai pointed forward. Metal clanged against metal as Shenlong bounced around, flinging his wrist across and above to attack with his kunai while Itachi parried each blow masterfully. Shenlong kicked off of Itachi's chest and landed back with his kunai thrust forward to stab Itachi, but Itachi had blocked the thrust with his own kunai and punched Shenlong in the face. Shenlong took a step back with a grin on his face as he lifted his head to look at the Uchiha with his wolf eyes that had been revealed when his glasses were knocked off. He then felt another fist in his chest as a shadow clone popped out from the ground to strike him in the chest. Shenlong brought his hand forward to dispel the clone and then he looked up to see the mangekyou staring at him.

"You were the one who brought this on yourself," said Itachi as he used Tsukiyami to put Shenlong into a nightmare.

* * *

Typhoon was a bit of a letdown, in Naruto's opinion. At first it was a bit fun because Typhoon had a nice jutsu that caused a strong gust of wind that would have knocked some other men off their feat. Naruto, however, had some wind jutsus of his own, including useful technique that he had learned from talking once with Shenlong, who knew a bit about of the wind jutsus that were used by Asuma. He used it to cut right through the wind and wound up splitting Typhoons arm in half. The large man cried out in pain, giving Naruto enough time to grab the man and slammed him into the ground.

"Is this all you have," asked Naruto as he grinded his sandals into Typhoon's back, earning a pained cry from the large man. "This is not how strong you sounded when I heard about you. You're really letting me down."

Typhoon pressed his one good arm into the ground and pushed himself up with a burst of strength. That's when Naruto delivered a kick to his side that sent him flying into a tree and then beat him mercilessly until Typhoon was just a bloody pulp. Souta and Otori both cowered from the young boy as he pulled his kunai out and Typhoon got on his knees pleading.

"Wait, I have information that you might want," said Typhoon as he tried to barter for his life, but Naruto would have nothing get in the way of him finishing the job that he had started. He slew Typhoon with a coldness that would freeze fire. They soon followed Typhoon.

* * *

"I didn't know the eyes of a wolf could be so powerful," said Itachi as he watched Shenlong try to get up from the log he had been knocked into. "Good thing you're not full wolf or else you wouldn't have used so much chakra to break the attack."

"Actually I do have some chakra left," said Shenlong as he hopped up from the log surprisingly. "But I still think my control over it is too chaotic for me to beat you. Anyways I was looking on giving you a deal for immunity, a chance to let you come back home. And you might want to leave the Akatsuki considering the person who is really leading it."

"Just what exactly do you mean," asked Itachi he looked curiously at the jonin.

"Exactly what I said," replied Shenlong as he looked at him. "I'll tell you more if your interested, but for now I'll just let you think it over."

And with that, Shenlong disappeared in a swarm of ravens.


	49. Origins of Shenlong part four

Bonus Chapter 9: Tears of a Wolf are drops of vengeance

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with Naruto.

* * *

Kurenai didn't know why she was running through the forest looking for the hopefully unconscious Shenlong to capture him and bring him back, but she did know that it had to do something with janken. Now she was running through some godforsaken forest with the threat of a presumably psychotic killer who had been beefed up by some woman's sick experiment and then escaped only to be taken captive. He would surely be executed in Konoha for his crimes, even if they were done while being under the influence of an ex-ninja of Konoha. It just sucked to be him, but it wasn't her job to question her orders because she knew that if it were Kakashi going in, Shenlong would be dead. The copy-cat ninja as he was called, was harboring a serious hatred towards Shenlong for the death of one of his original team mates, Rin. Kurenai, herself, had never lost a team mate but knew that she didn't want to lose one any time soon and so kept her distance from such things. When she finally found him laying under a tree, knocked out from the rasengan attack, she jumped for joy at the prospect of an easy capture. It didn't last long as she felt something strange about the whole thing and immediately cast a release to cast away the illusion that had been placed, but found that Shenlong was already so close to her and gaining with each second.

She hadn't had time to throw her kunai, but she did manage to tap her distress caller so that if Asuma and Kakashi were close they could back her up. She was pretty sure he didn't have that much in him even if he had healed himself, but considering how dangerous he was, she wasn't too tempted to take a chance with it. When Shenlong attacked her she tried to kick to fend him off and touched only smoke as the shadow clone was dispelled by Shenlong, who came behind her, wrapping his hand around her neck and lifting her off her feet. She felt helpless at the raw strength that Shenlong displayed and the anger in his eyes that seemed to be a kunai cutting into her. Luckily for her, Kakashi and Asuma came out at this time to the rescue, throwing shuriken and kunai at him, but Shenlong blocked each one thrown with his sword. It was then that his obvious weakness at this was noted for his grip started to get fainter and gave her enough breath to find the strength to kick him in the balls.

Shenlong, having never felt any damage down there, was caught unaware and let go of her while grabbing his privates and crying out in pain. Incidentally, Kurenai felt a little bad that she had done such a low blow, but they were ninja and they were supposed to get the mission accomplished by any means necessary. He felt that all familiar feeling of cold metal against his neck and he felt a mixture of feelings. On one side he would die and be reunited with his departed lover, but at the same time he would have died without being able to avenge her murder, a thing that he could never die proudly without doing. Caught between survival instincts and feelings of despair, Shenlong set himself into autopilot, which meant that he would be controlled by pure instincts, killing any and everything that his mind considered a threat.

Pushing one foot into the ground, Shenlong managed to move himself a bit so that he only received a scratch from the sword that Kakashi swung and then punched Kakashi in the stomach before jumping up to grab Kurenai. The instant he put his hands on her, he forced her into a submissive hold so that he could take her hostage and then put his claw to her neck since he lacked both his sword and his kunai. The two male leaf ninja were caught by surprise at how the circumstances had changed and Kakashi, still harboring a grudge, took a step forward only to have Shenlong press his claws into Kurenai's neck.

"I may be nearly out of chakra but that doesn't take away the speed at which I could carve her wind pipe out," said Shenlong as he started to lead her away from them, his eyes kept on both of them. "If you wish me to show you how fast I can accomplish said task then please by all means take one more step forward and I will be drinking her blood from a large hole in her neck. Please doubt me, I would love to see you doubt m for one second."

"What are you going to do," asked Kakashi as he looked at him with his very cold right eye that might have made any other person, even a regular Shenlong cringe, but this Shenlong was one of pure instinct without the thought and consciousness that all others had.

"I'll answer questions if you don't mind and if you do then I must insist," said Shenlong, pressing his claws into Kurenai's neck to accent his point and smirked when he could see Kakashi falter a bit in his gaze. This man obviously prized team mates more than his mission. "First off, who killed Hoshi-chan?"

"Don't tell me you're thinking of going after the Hokage over the body of a dead whore," said Kakashi and he could see the rage in Shenlong's eyes when he said it. "You do realize that it was the same whore who made you what you are and you're the reason that you are in this situation? She probably told you that she loved you so she could have her own personal sex toy."

"You son of a bitch," shouted Shenlong as he threw Kurenai to the ground and went after Kakashi with his claws extended at a surprising speed that caught Kakashi off guard. Kakashi figured that he could only move his hand fast and when he charged Asuma would be able to pick him off with the kunai, but unfortunately for him, Asuma was left in a daze by Shenlong's speed.

Shenlong knocked Kakashi to the ground and started punching the jonin continuously until Kakashi flipped him off and brought out a kunai to cut Shenlong in the stomach with. Ignoring the pain, Shenlong lashed at the silver haired ninja with his own claws, but his instinct fighting was slowly sapping at his energy and he was slowing down. Soon Asuma was able to slip in the fight and deal Shenlong two serious cuts along his torso before jumping out to prepare for the lethal attack, but before he could jump he was stopped by a hand. The hand belonged to none other than the Minato Namikaze, the Hokage.

"This is something I must do," said Minato as he took a step forward and then broke into a sprint that was so fast that when he was an inch from Shenlong it took the angered ninja all of thirty seconds to realize that someone was there. Before Shenlong could even make a move he felt something hit him hard in the neck and all he could see was an encroaching black and in the center of it was the Hokage's face. The face he wanted to rip down and destroy, but no matter how close it seemed it was still out of his reach.

* * *

"I find it odd that this rogue ninja isn't being tortured or executed right now," said Danzo before the counsel to the Hokage as he looked over at the above mentioned ninja. "The people of Konoha are not safe with that monster there being in a low security prison."

"Well isn't that something, a monster calling me a monster," laughed Shenlong as he sat there and he was immediately hit by one of the ROOT members set in guarding who was immediately removed by a very angry Minato.

"The rogue ninja was captured at a young age and was molded into a killer," retorted one of the sympathetic elders and received a glare from Danzo.

"We were weak hearted with Orochimaru and now we have his threat right here," said Danzo pointing his one arm at Shenlong, who only got a depraved look on his face.

"You know that is the best way to lose an arm, but I guess you don't mind," laughed Shenlong before he was shocked to silence by the seal placed on him meant to keep him restraint.

"Well I guess all that is left to do is vote," said Minato as he had a pain in his stomach that he might have to use one of his chips to spare Shenlong' life, but to his surprise, Shenlong saved himself.

"You can't kill me or have me executed," declared Shenlong as he smirked at all of them. "I'm protected by the treaties you signed and by the major political fuck up this is going to cause."

"Those are only for the great ninja villages and you were with a criminal," retorted Danzo who looked a bit angry, especially since a few ROOT missions were spoiled by Shenlong.

"But I had defected and we were officially with the rock ninja until we were illegally attacked in a vicious act of war in which a civilian was killed," replied Shenlong as he sat back in his chair. "I am by right wrongfully imprisoned and the fact that you have stolen me clearly shows that not only do you wish war with the rock village but you are an oppressive village."

"Your contract was to be taken into effect when you reached the village," argued one of the elders.

"But I was in the territory of the wolf clan and you will have to answer to all the wolves then," said Shenlong, who had dropped the smiling kid act and was now on the cold killer mentality. "Either way I cannot be held accountable for being captured and forced to be a killer because then the other villages can call for satisfaction from other villages that have had similar accounts. And the person who kidnapped me was of Konoha and it's your fault that this happened to me."

"He is right and as such he is to be released," said Minato as he pointed at the guards to release him, but they were both stopped by Kakashi.

"Don't forget that he is dangerous and has a grudge against you, Hokage-sama," said Kakashi as he looked at his sensei.

"I don't think he will try to kill me in front of the village and we can only hope to try and come to an understanding," assured Minato, but he was silenced by a maddening fit of laughter from Shenlong who seemed to be thrashing around in his chair as if by pain.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-teme, but from what I understand is that you killed my lover and have put me through a lot," said Shenlong as looked at Minato with dangerous eyes. "I am not the only one who is going to be sorry when this is all over, you can count on that."

"But now I can't guarantee that you will be out to observe the funeral," said Minato a bit angry at the foolish antics of Shenlong.

"Nothing you have can hold me, Hokage, you can bet that you will regret killing her," warned Shenlong as he was dragged out to his cell. Moments later he was running from it without any guards holding him down and revenge in his heart.


	50. Origins of Shenlong part five

Bonus Chapter 10: Wolf's Revenge

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters of Naruto.

* * *

Minato didn't know why he walked down to that cell block when he knew he should be looking into the whereabouts of the missing Orochimaru, but for some reason he couldn't help himself. That dimly lit cell somehow called him to go down and check up on its prisoner, the one last sin that he had in this world. The red wolf eyes that stared out at him when he looked into the cell and he was hit with a touch of guilt knowing that he had created this thing that stood before him. _He isn't a thing_, thought Minato as he looked at the sleeping prisoner through the bars of the jail cell with a hint of shame. _He is Shenlong, of __Sunakagure__ and he is the most unfortunate person to have ever served time in a jail cell. It's not his fault that all of that was done to him, it was the fault of __Orochimaru__, the fault of the scientist who performed this on him, the fault of Doctor Victoria who's notes were used in the experiment, and my fault for believing __Orochimaru__ when he told me that he was retrieving Shenlong for the information. Why did I ever believe that snake bastard when he lied to me, when he told me that it was only for the sake of the child? I've asked myself that for so long, but I still don't have an answer that will ease my conscience. I personally delivered Shenlong to __Orochimaru__ for the fake orphanage he set up and he is my responsibility. I can't undo the damage that has been done to him, but I can try and make amends to the damage by helping to make his life better. _

He could tell that Shenlong noticed him by the way his fingers around the middle finger were bent so that he was flicking the Hokage off and he didn't feel offended completely, he deserved such a thing. There was a breeze of autumn that blew into the cell leaving behind a chill of the oncoming winter that he hoped to spend with his wife and the son that would arrive soon, any day now. By that time he hoped Shenlong was out and he could begin to try and make amends with the jonin, maybe even send him back to Suna, the native village of his parents and as far as anyone knew his birthplace. A lot of things about Shenlong were unknown to everyone, including Shenlong himself, but the Yondaime hoped to change that.

"Is there a reason why you are there staring at me," asked Shenlong as he looked over his shoulder with eyes that seemed calm, but under them was a thick layer of hate that one could cut with a kunai. "I didn't know you went both ways or are you really gay and using your wife to cover it up?"

"Neither I was only coming down here to see how you were doing," said Minato as he pulled a seat and started looking at the ninja who was staring at him with a penetrating gaze. "I know that it is cruel for me to keep you here when it is not your fault for killing our jonin, it was a duty that you were forced to do, and I know that you are far from the monster that Danzo portrays you to be."

"You know it is unwise to sit so close to this cell because I could easily perform a jutsu right here and it may be the end of you," said Shenlong as he sat up crossed legs and started to do his most common habit of carving a piece of wood with his claws. "What is it that you hope to do when you come here? Is it to try and inspire some mercy from me or is it to make sure that I'm not out of my cell and going after that pretty wife of yours?"

"How do you know about my wife, may I ask?"

"Do you think I went deaf while I was in here," asked Shenlong with a slight chuckle as he gaze at the Hokage with his eyes, those eyes that could terrify most of the people who saw it, and then just went right back to carving the wood. "Everyone talks about her and the child that she is no doubt expecting any time soon, hell she could be in labor right now and your having a conversation with someone who wants to rip your guts out. You better be careful, someone might think the office has been too much of a strain on your mental strength."

"I'm terribly sorry for killing Hoshi, I didn't mean to kill her, it just happened," replied Minato as he looked away a bit before returning to the wolf ninja after realizing what he meant. "This is our fight, killing my wife is not the answer if you wish to get even."

"How would you feel if I were to kill her now right in front of your eyes," asked Shenlong in a calm collected voice while not even bothering to look at Minato. "What would it feel like to see the woman you love die right before your eyes?"

"It would be like being dead, but instead of passing on your kept on this earth," said Minato as he looked at Shenlong. "It would feel like I have lost the sun and the moon in my life and whatever stars I ever saw in the sky are covered by an oppressive rain that doesn't look like it will ever give out, ever."

"And now you know how I feel, you can go now," said Shenlong as he waved Minato away. "For us to be even I would have to kill her, but you don't have to worry as long as she is pregnant. You didn't kill my son."

* * *

Shenlong lay on the small soft futon that severed as his bed in the prison, the only comfort that he had with him in the dark cell besides a music box that had belonged to Hoshi. It was the only thing that he had to remind him of her. He was all alone in his cell, just himself and no one else, save for the assassin that was hiding in the darkness of the shadows of the prison waiting for him to fall asleep. Right now Shenlong was deciding if he would welcome death or if he should live on, finally deciding to live on because he would be able to get his revenge as long as he was alive. So he waited for the assassin to finally make his move and open the gate to his cell as silently as the grave, making his footsteps soft so as not to alert Shenlong. Shenlong had seen the assassin before, he was one of those ROOT members, the same one who punched him for his words to Danzo, and he was almost certain that the Hokage had nothing to do with this. _He knows to deal with me __himself_, reasoned Shenlong as he got off the bed and heard the assassin taking a step forward to stab him. He caught the arm in his hand tossed the assassin into a wall before breaking his neck.

"You fight with great anger in you, Shenlong-san," said a voice from behind the blond with short spiky black hair and a spiral face. "I know that you wish to get revenge on the Hokage and I know the best way to do such a thing and all it would require is a drop of your blood."

"If it's blood that you want for such a task then I will willing give you it," said Shenlong as he took a knife and cut his hand with it, the warm red liquid flowing on the blade as he held it out for the stranger to take. "You wish to summon something with my blood and it's something that only responds to great hate, am I correct?"

"Yes, something very powerful which could mean the end of the Hokage and before that you can break and end his life before he can stop this," replied the stranger who turned and looked over his shoulder. "His wife is giving birth right about now."

* * *

"Congratulations, it's a boy," said the medic as he held up the son of the Yondaime up to the boy's father, who took him with a smile on his face of pride.

"Terrible news sir," said a messenger ninja as he appeared in the doorway. "There is an attack on the village! It's the Kyuubi sir!"

"Start evacuations for civilians right now," said the Yondaime as he dismissed the messenger and then had the medical crew dispatched to go and help any of those who were injured. "Why now?"

"It does seem that you are between a rock and a hard place," said a voice from the doorway where stood Shenlong grinning at him with his sword strapped to his back. "Now then I believe we have a bit of unfinished business."

"Shenlong, please I am the only person who can stop this," said Minato and then he remembered Shenlong's words to him in the cell and got in front of his wife. "Please, this is between me and you, not the people of this village. If you do this you are no different from the man who destroyed your home and made you an orphan."

"Your wife is unfortunately already dead," said Shenlong as he walked over to the dead woman on the bed. "You and I both know that even with your power you couldn't beat him even if it had a cold."

"This is the hardest thing a father ever had to do, but I can't give any other child the burden," said Minato as he held his son up in front of him. "I severely hope that my wish will be granted so that I do not place this burden on him. Who will be his godfather?"

"I won't be around this village after tonight for a while, but I will be his second godfather," said Shenlong as he silently raged at losing his revenge. "A word of advice, when you die you should stay dead because I will kill you if you ever return."

With those words, Shenlong stole out into the night leaving behind a broken family and a revenge that would never be.


	51. Chapter 51

Bonus chapter 11: The Taming of Shenlong

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters of Naruto.

* * *

The first thing he heard as he walked was the sound of snickers from the bandits that were following him from the cover of the woods, waiting for a chance to ambush him. Shenlong paid no such attention to them as he ran his hand over his short hair that was cut short, but still had some form of a curve to it. He liked it like that so he could didn't have to put up with maintaining it when it got longer and curled up into a nappy fro. As a rogue ninja still wanted by Konoha, or as far as he knew he was wanted, the rogue didn't need to have to worry about his hair getting in his face.That was the sign of a sloppy ninja. The rate of profession that he used was what separated him from the common bandit, the same kind of bandits who were making one blunder after another as they tried to ambush him. Even though he didn't have to put any attention onto them he did because it helped him forget about everything else that plagued him when he lied awake in a bed at some end or hanging from the branch of a tree.

_Hoshi,_ he thought, for one second, and then he cursed himself for thinking about her, for thinking about how she looked in the pale moonlight the first night that he was free from that hell of a nightmare. When she was still there, beautiful as ever, and the world was rich and filled with possibilities, not this world that he traveled through now, the current world was hell on earth. He could help the pain that he was feeling at the time and so he had to start doing something so he started singing whatever song came to his mind and somehow he was singing that one song that he would always sing while playing a guitar for her.

_"__Hello there, the angel of my nightmares, the shadow in the background of the morgue. The unsuspecting victim, of darkness in the valley, we can live like Jack and Sally if you want. Where you can __always find me and we'll have Halloween on Christmas, and in this night we'll wish it never ends. We'll wish it never ends.__"_

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he said this, forming a puddle that seemed black like a loss of hope and as he walked on he started moving down a path that was somehow familiar, but yet he never remembered ever going that path ever in his life. For some reason that he was too busy singing that song to notice or question it all. He was stuck in his memories.

"_Where are you? And I'm so sorry! I cannot sleep, I cannot dream tonig__ht. I need somebody__ and always. This sick strange __darkness,__ comes creeping in on so haunting every time. And as I stared I counted, webs from all the spiders, catching things and eating their insides, like indecision to call you. And hear your voice of treason. Will you come home and stop this pain tonight. Stop this pain tonight."_

The bandits figured that they would be merciful and try and put the singing blond ninja out of his misery, but even as they stabbed their swords into him, Shenlong couldn't feel death coming on. He wasn't at peace, he was on some other existence, deprived of the one drug that he needed the most, love. No matter what they did he would just heal, it was out of his control, he would not die that day and there was nothing he could do about it. In anger he killed the bandits and just continued to walk on to the path that he was on, now singing the chorus though his voice was breaking from sorrow.

"_Don't waste your time on __me,__ you're already the voice inside my head. I miss you, miss you." _

A sound rose out of the air, sounding like a voice that was all familiar to him, but he couldn't remember where he was or why this place held some sort of significance for him. The green of the trees had long since been covered by the soft snow that layered everything around him and his shoulder with a cold beauty that he wished he could enjoy fully, but he was only half of himself. He followed that voice to wherever it originated from and then he heard another voice that was masculine and also familiar to him. The farther he went the more voices he could hear, as if the world were coming alive to him and it was then that everything began to look like it did once, before everything was destroyed. _Where have I seen these places before, they seem to be all familiar, full of warmth, but yet I can't recall ever being here? What is this place? What is it to me?_ The answer was like a splash of cold water on the face of a sleeping person. _This place is my home!_

"Welcome home, son," said a soft female voice that was close to a song in the wind and Shenlong ran through the snow, trudging through the ice as he tried to get to the voice of the woman he knew to be his mother.

"Mother," Shenlong shouted to the air as he ran towards the voice. "I've returned to you mother. Don't leave without me mother, I've gotten it together. Moth-"

Shenlong fell into the snow at the sight of the place of origin of the voice, a gravestone that belonged to his mother, carved in with his own sword. His mother wasn't there waiting for him, like everyone he ever knew or cared about, this was enough to make Shenlong snap and for a year there were reports along a certain trail leading to the Mist about a lone wolf swordsmen who killed anyone who came in his domain.

**

* * *

Skip the part where Gaara and ****yuki**** find Shenlong. I already wrote that in a chapter.**** This is after.**

Shenlong opened his eyes two minutes after gaining consciousness, feeling the softness of a warm bed, something he hadn't had in a long time and he looked out to see that the room that he was in was a special medical wing. He'd never been admitted to one, but he had seen one before as was custom for a person whose comrades would be taken to the medical wing and he could tell that he was either being prepared to be taken to Konoha or was a prisoner. His eyes searched around the room to find that he wasn't armed with much, just a teapot that couldn't be used for much and he might be able to use his claws, but he wasn't fully healed. He noticed that he wasn't in much, just a pair of boxers that he knew were new. In a chair in the corner of the fairly large room was a chair that had his pair of black pants, not the ones of his uniform but a pair of leather ones that he had taken from a raid for supplies. Outside all he could see was sand and people walking around the stone buildings that protected well from the sand.

"If I went up against the Kazekage then why the hell am I alive," asked Shenlong as he picked up the tattered remains of the pants on and started looking for other clothes when the door opened. His first instinct was to move towards the person who threw it, but he was tripped by a mass of sand that had collected at his feet.

"I know exactly who you are, Shenlong," said the same red haired teenager that he had met before that he had now identified as the Kazekage. "You don't have to worry, Konoha has taken you out of the bingo book and you are now a free agent who can be placed anywhere. I can assure you that as long as you're here I will do everything I can to make sure you are not harmed."

"Thank you," said Shenlong as he got up and he could sense something, he sensed that the Kazekage had something in common with him. "I thank you for sparing my life, but there are other places that would also demand my death."

"I've already talked with the Godaime and she has also agreed to help erase all charges," said the Kazekage as he sat down and then nodded for the girl to pick up the teapot and pour some tea for Shenlong.

"Why are you helping me live," asked Shenlong as he looked at the Kazekage and he saw the same bit of loneliness in the Kazekage.

"We are both creatures of loneliness, you and I, but I see that yours is worse than mine, a loss of everything," replied Gaara as he took a cup himself and looked into the tea. "Few know what it's like for us to live or to have be us with everything that has happened to us and so they treat us all like monsters, only keeping us from being better than we are and achieving happiness. That is what I want to do as Kazekage, offer a safe haven for people like us and help them gain that part of them that they lost a long time ago, to finally shine the light on the monster and reveal the man that was always there. That is my wish, but it was one of the hardest to achieve."

"Your right that we are the same type of person and I guess you are right about me," said Shenlong as he set the cup before him and the bowed to the Kazekage. "Kazekage-dono, I would like to join you in your attempt to create that safe haven as this now seems like the only purpose I can have now in my life. Thank you for giving me some hope for the first time in my life and I will be your servant forever, as you have now shown me that there are still some things that I can live for."

"Thank you, Shenlong-san," said Gaara as he held out a headband to Shenlong and Shenlong accepted the headband. "You are now a shinobi of Suna and I won't waste your talents by having you start out as a chunin or genin, but you will be in my ANBU. Additionally, is there any other place that you would like to be placed at?"

"I would like to request, if I may, to be your bodyguard since protecting you is now something important in my life," said Shenlong, still bowing, but with the headband tied to his forehead. "I will never let anyone harm you, no matter who they are."

"I see, well you will now be working with Yuki-san," said Gaara, motioning towards the woman next to him. "Also, I have already contacted your wolf family and they will be here soon to see you."

"Thank you, Kazekage-dono."

"Please, you and I are like brothers, call me Gaara."

"Yes, Gaara-dono."


	52. It Must be Love

Bonus Chapter 12: It Must Be Love

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this takes place after the events that happened in Yuki's flashback when she slept with him.

* * *

The fingers of dawn slipped through the cracks in the shutter and stroked the forehead of the woman who was asleep in a bed not her own, but the woman refused to wake. She didn't wake until her hand reached out to touch something that was right beside her, something that she expected to be there but it wasn't there and so she woke up. Green eyes peered out into the room to search for the man that had shared that bed with her and as she was searching she began to notice things that she hadn't noticed before during the night. Around the bed were boxes, plain brown boxes that were used for storage only and on each box was a name, a woman's name, each box contained a different name. Despite her normal wishes to never get into anybodies business she found herself opening one of the boxes to find a set of clothes in it, women's clothes, each one a discarded item that didn't match the item before it, but she realized that these were pieces of women's clothing that he had collected from each his previous bed partners.

Something about the clothes just made a sinking feeling into her chest as she felt like what had happened last night wasn't anything, just a frequent occurrence that happened to the man often. Would she leave some of her own clothes behind, would they go into a box as well or did he stop putting them in a box and just had them in a pile in his closet, trophies for past conquests in bed? This made her feel a bit unclean and she began to get fuzzy in the head as she quickly put on her clothes, which were still soaked, and made her way towards the living room with the intention of leaving and never turning back. She didn't want to be one of those pitiful women who just waited by the phone for him to call when he felt like making love to her. It was just so much for her to bear that she had actually felt that she love for that man and he probably just felt that she was another woman who needed a night in his bed to make her feel better.

"Is there something wrong," asked a voice from behind her that made her turn around and look into the dark sunglasses that were staring at her.

"I'm sorry about imposing on you and I hope that I repaid it well enough in bed," replied Yuki, a bit of anger in her tone as she looked at him and then turned around to leave when she felt a strong hand on her shoulder.

"What's the matter? You can tell me if anything is bothering you, I'm quite good at helping people."

"No, Shenlong I am quite fine thank you, just don't think I'm doing that again," said yuki as she made her way for the door and looked back. "I believe that it was a one time thing for both of us don't you think?"

"It doesn't have to be just one time," suggested Shenlong in a voice that didn't fit his true meaning for it sounded like one of seduction.

"No thank you, I'm not just another box of clothes for you to keep around," said Yuki as she walked out the door and bowed before she walked out leaving Shenlong curious as to what she meant before he walked into his room and saw the boxes.

"These boxes don't belong here," said Shenlong as he started to put the postage stamps on them to mail them.



Yuki got to the building for them to check with each other and soon she remembered that she hadn't had breakfast at all so she went down to the coffee room where there were always donuts and bagels. She picked up a chocolate covered one with sprinkles before going back to her work room where she looked over all the necessary forms and files that she was put to these days because Shenlong had taken on an apprentice. It was a bit adorable to see the twelve year old standing next to the very tall Shenlong who had reached 6'10 while she was at 4'11, but they both had the same demon red eyes, the girl's were just lighter than usual. At such a young age the girl was going on very dangerous missions that would normally not be allowed to genin, but she had the help of her strong partner, Susanwo, the wolf-brother of Shenlong. Susanwo was the youngest and most impatient of Shenlong's siblings, he was also the smallest, having the appearance of a small pup, but Susanwo was able to grow to the size of an adult wolf.

Most of the day was spent thinking about when her next mission would be and if she would have to have another mission with Shenlong, a thought that was getting more and more dreaded by the second because she didn't want to deal with him right now. It wasn't that he was an asshole or had a bad personality, well at least not to her, but to others, like Sumikoa, he was an arrogant bastard who was too strong for his own good. His bad habits included smoking, which he would sometimes use for illusions or the heat of the burning end for a fire jutsu, but Shenlong had the ability of duel elements for his chakra as a result of his wolf blood. At times she found him very dashing, especially whenever he was playing his role as Gaara's right hand man, but there were other times when she found him to have a very cute face, one time being when she caught him sleeping upside down on a tree with one of his student's kittens playing with his hair.

"Hello, Yuki, are you awake in there," asked Temari as she waved her hand in front of Yuki's face, snapping her out of her trance and bringing her back to the real world to discover that she had 

been daydreaming for two hours. "You seem to be out of it today, does it have anything to do with your mother's death?"

"No, I've gotten over that thanks to Shenlong, but I….I lost something," replied Yuki, a bit shy at revealing her previous night with the mysterious Shenlong, but Temari wouldn't stop until she had the whole story. "I was at Shenlong's apartment last night and I…lost something, something very…sacred to every woman."

"No way! Get out of here! You lost your virginity to Shenlong," asked Temari as she eyed Yuki strangely, as if she was jealous, but Temari already had her eyes on another man. "Why would you do it with him, was it consensual? Did he use some type of illusion on you to make you think otherwise?"

"No it just sort of happened when he let me in to his apartment last night after I had been crying my eyes out and we just wound up kissing each other and one thing led to another. This morning when I woke up he wasn't in bed but all around the bedroom were little brown storage boxes filled with different women's clothing from the other women he's had in his bed and I realized that he had lots of company. I don't know what to do, every time I try to forget he just pops in my mind but I don't want to be that girl just sitting there waiting for him to call me when he feels like he's in the mood for a go at it."

"Well the first thing you should know is that a lot of women who have worked with him, even from different villages have been in his bed, but he makes it known beforehand that it is just sex," said Temari as she looked at the other kuinochi who were looking in her direction and Yuki blushed with embarrassment. "Then you have those who hope to make into his bed because he has a reputation that is as notorious as his reputation for bloodshed, plus he wears those leather outfits that would make him look like something out of a fantasy. That is the hard truth that you have to face and if you really wish to know all about him, he was once in love with a woman before, but she was killed during an ambush by the Yondaime so he's been nursing an old wound."

"As if him having a harem at his disposal didn't make it hard for a relationship now I have a dead lover," sighed Yuki as she put her forehead to her desk and wondered what he would do until she sa that Temari was giving her a smile.

"But you know, you're the only one who has actually managed to tame Shenlong just by earning his trust and of all the women that have gotten into his bed, you are the only one who is something to him."

"Over time it did become more than me being his keeper and he being my pet," said Yuki reluctantly before she closed her eyes and opened them with a look of determination. "But now I know that I love him, even if he doesn't feel the same way, and I'm going to tell him that."

"Last I saw he was spending the day at his home before going off," said Temari as she motioned for Yuki to go, smiling as the girl left and she wondered when she would get that lazy bum to take her to his bed.

* * *

Shenlong sat there in his living room away from all his thoughts wondering if he would ever see her again, Yuki, his Yuki. Time had made him grow attachments that he never meant to make again and he found himself once more at the painful step of waiting for acceptance, but now he was beginning to despair about it all. She had seen the clothes that various women had left and she must think him to be some sex fiend who tricks women into getting into his bed before he could tell her something. Once again he found himself alone in a home that was very much lavished in a gothic manner while keeping tradition, like his own soul, but it also represented how other people saw him. In making himself a reputation to protect his lord he found himself to be the object of many worried glances and he could bring silence to a lively party just by walking in there with his shades on.

A sent crawled up into his nose and he immediately turned towards the door to see someone sliding the front door through the window, the rain kicking out again like it had the night before, and she was once again soaked. Yuki was standing there, looking at him with determination in his eyes and he found himself in a state of confusion that would have been embarrassing had it been anyone else. Without a word he unlocked the door and as she stepped in he led her back to the room where he had found some old clothes that belonged to one of the women in his clan, his birth clan. He decided it was better to turn around as she changed, but as he turned he felt a hand turn him around and Yuki stared at him before taking off his dark sunglasses to see those red wolf eyes again. It just became to unbearable for Shenlong to hold it in any longer as he bent down and kissed her, finding no resistance as she opened her mouth to his probing tongue. As he let it explore the inner recesses of her mouth his hands were all on her removing her clothes as they both made their way to the bed.

The first article of his clothing was his leather shirt so that her hands could run across his bare chest and next when his pants which he always wore nothing underneath it. He laid her down on the bed genteelly before he mounted and pushed himself inside of her. It didn't hurt at first like last time, it felt the opposite as she was pleased by his fulfilling of her desires and she felt at heaven as he thrust into her again and again with a stamina that men could only dream of. His mouth suckled her breasts as he continued to make love to her and they both reached their peek at the same time, a first for Shenlong who usually held out for longer.

The only thing left in the air were the two unspoken words.

"I love you Yuki-chan."

"I love you too Shenlong-kun."


End file.
